QUETTA: At least two people were killed in a suicide explosion near Sardar Bahadur Khan Women's University at Quetta's Brewery road late on Friday.
Balochistan Home Secretary Akbar Hussain Durrani said that the bomber attempted to enter Quetta's Hazara town area but was intercepted by security personnel. He added that the interception forced the attacker, who was wearing women's clothes, to prematurely detonate his explosives.
Durrani also hailed the efforts of the security guard.
Hazara Town is a locality populated mainly by the ethnic Hazara Shia minority which has been targeted by extremist militant groups.
Bomb Disposal Squad officials who arrived at the spot earlier had also confirmed that the explosion was carried out by a suicide bomber and that seven to eight kilograms of explosive material was used in the blast.
Security sources claimed that those killed in the attack included the attacker and the security guard who had intercepted the 25-year-old bomber.
Rescue personnel reached the spot and shifted the victims to a nearby hospital.
Police, Levies and Balochistan Constabulary officials reached the blast site and cordoned off the area as a probe into the incident went underway.
The blast caused a severe traffic jam in the area.
Federal Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan strongly condemned the suicide attack and sought a report over the incident from relevant officials.
Brewery road is considered to be one of the sensitive areas of Quetta. The area has witnessed a number of attacks in the past as well.
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Balochistan has been experiencing incident violence and targeted killings since more than a decade. More than 1,400 incidents targeting the minority Shia and Hazara community have taken place in the province during the past 15 years.
The largest province of the country by area, is home to a low-level insurgency by ethnic Baloch separatists. Al Qaeda-linked and sectarian militants also operate in the region.
The province shares borders with Afghanistan and Iran.
