At least one person was killed and seven others injured on Sunday when an explosion occurred near a passenger bus travelling from Khuzdar to Rawalpindi, officials said.

“The passenger bus, travelling on the M-8 Highway from Khuzdar to Rawalpindi, was targeted near Khori, some 25 kilometres from Khuzdar City,” Khuzdar District Commissioner Yasir Iqbal Dashti told Dawn.com.

Among the injured was the bus conductor, said to be in critical condition. The injured were immediately shifted to the Khuzdar Trauma Centre following the blast, DC Dashti said.

An investigation suggests that an improvised explosive device (IED) was planted in an Alto vehicle parked near the road.

A heavy police contingent, Frontier Corps and Levies forces reached the site of the incident and cordoned off the area. An investigation into the incident has begun.

While no group immediately claimed responsibility for the blast, the country, particularly Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, have seen a sharp uptick in terrorism-related incidents over the last few months.

Earlier this month, four people were killed and 32 injured in a blast targeting a bus in the suburban area of Balochistan’s Turbat.

In a separate incident, three civilians were injured in a blast from an IED targeting a truck carrying FC personnel in Balochistan’s Chaman city.

In October last year, a PPP leader was injured, while his son and a Levies Force official were killed in a bomb blast in Zehri tehsil of Khuzdar.

In November last year, at least 26 people were killed and 62 injured after a suicide blast ripped through a Quetta Railway Station, local authorities and hospital officials said.