QUETT, July 29: A nephew of Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Aslam Raisani was killed and 24 other people, 12 of them security personnel, were injured in a powerful bomb blast and a burst of intense firing in the football stadium in Mastung, about 50 kilometres from here, on Friday.

Akmal Raisani, the 14-year-old son of Nawabzada Siraj Raisani, younger brother of the chief minister, was killed in the blast which rocked the stadium during the prize distribution ceremony after a football match.

Nawabzada Siraj Raisani who had taken his son to Mastung to watch a football match between two local teams of Mastung, escaped unhurt. After the match, when Nawabzada Siraj Raisani was distributing prizes, the bomb exploded near the dais.

The blast was followed by heavy firing which left 25 people, including the son of Nawabzada Siraj Raisani, injured. They were taken to hospitals.

Young Akmal died at the CMH in Quetta.

The condition of at least six of the injured was stated to be serious. Among the injured security personnel eight belonged to Anti-Terrorist Force and four to police. Twelve of them were civilians.

“A remote control bomb was used in the blast,” a senior police official said. However, some sources said it was hand-grenade attack.

“An investigation is under way to determine the nature of the blast,” the sources said.

Chief Minister Nawab Aslam Raisani, who was in Islamabad for a meeting at the Presidency, cut short his visit and returned to Quetta.

Opinion

Editorial

By-election trends
Updated 23 Apr, 2024

By-election trends

Unless the culture of violence and rigging is rooted out, the credibility of the electoral process in Pakistan will continue to remain under a cloud.
Privatising PIA
23 Apr, 2024

Privatising PIA

FINANCE Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb’s reaffirmation that the process of disinvestment of the loss-making national...
Suffering in captivity
23 Apr, 2024

Suffering in captivity

YET another animal — a lioness — is critically ill at the Karachi Zoo. The feline, emaciated and barely able to...
Not without reform
Updated 22 Apr, 2024

Not without reform

The problem with us is that our ruling elite is still trying to find a way around the tough reforms that will hit their privileges.
Raisi’s visit
22 Apr, 2024

Raisi’s visit

IRANIAN President Ebrahim Raisi, who begins his three-day trip to Pakistan today, will be visiting the country ...
Janus-faced
22 Apr, 2024

Janus-faced

THE US has done it again. While officially insisting it is committed to a peaceful resolution to the...