QUETTA, Aug 14: Eight bomb blasts rocked Quetta on Saturday despite heavy deployment of law-enforcement agencies to check any untoward incident on the occasion of Independence Day celebrations. However, there was no report of any causality or property damage from the blasts.

A series bomb blasts started around 12:50pm when two blasts took place at Killi Ibrahimzai with an interval of 10 minutes.

The third explosion occurred at Abdul Aziz Street of Arbab Ghulam Ali Road area around 1:05pm, rocking the whole residential area. The bomb was planted at a sewerage drain.

Three more bombs exploded at residential areas of Patel Bagh, Query Road and Al-Gilani Road with an interval of 15 minutes.

The seventh device went off near Bolan Medical Collage Complex, late Saturday night.

The eighth bomb exploded at 11:00pm along Spini Road, but no damage to life or property was reported.

An unknown caller telephoned Quetta Press Club on Saturday night, claiming that the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) had carried out these blasts.

The police also foiled an attempt to fire a 106-mm rocket, recovering the device from the Joint Road area early in the morning. The bomb disposal squad staff defused the rocket that was about to be fired towards the city.

A senior police official said that the rocket was fixed near the shrine of Baba Samandar Shah.

The blasts shattered window-panes of several buildings and houses and created panic among the people, local residents said, adds AFP