QUETTA, May 31: A man was killed and five others were injured in a rocket and mortar attacks at Mand, a small township at the Pakistan-Iran border in Makran, on Monday.

The house of Federal Education Minister Zubaida Jalal, a clear target of the attack, did not suffer any damage although one of the rockets exploded in its premises, official sources said.

However, the young son of the federal minister's housemaid was killed in the attack while the maid's husband and three other children were injured in the attack. Hospital sources confirmed one death in the attack while Provincial Home Minister told reporters that two men were killed in the incident.

"Unknown miscreants fired over 20 rockets and mortar shells on the township around 3am when people were sleeping," the sources said, adding that the unknown saboteurs lobbed rockets and mortar shells from mountains in the south of Mand township. The rocket and mortar shells firing continued for about 25 minutes.

At least six rockets exploded in the residential areas and one of them hit the house Mohammad Rafiq, resulting in the death of his 12-year-old son Altaf and injuring his wife and two children. "The family of the victim was sleeping in the backyard of the house due to sever warm weather," the sources said.

The injured were rushed to the civil hospital for treatment but later shifted to Turbat district hospital. The sources said that a few rockets and mortar shells also exploded near the fort of the Frontier Corps while one exploded in premises of the FC fort while two other rockets exploded near Tehsil offices causing small damage to the building.

Most of the rocket/mortar shells exploded in the abandoned places while three mortar shells were found unexploded. Soon after the attack, senior officials of the local administration rushed to the explosion site, along with a heavy contingent of law-enforcement agencies and started investigation. However, no person or group has accepted the responsibility for the attack so far.

Provincial Home Minister Mir Shoaib Nausherwani said that two people were killed in the terrorist attack. "It is terrorist attack," Mir Nausherwani said, adding that those who were opposing the development and mega projects could be responsible of these attacks.

He claimed that influential people were supporting elements who were involved in these subversive activities. Federal Minister for Education Zubaida Jalal strongly condemned the rocket and mortar attack on Mand township. She said that elements who were opposing the development in the province wanted to harass her through attacking her home town.

"I am not afraid of such terrorist attacks," she declared and vowed to continue struggle for the development of her backward province including construction of the Gwadar deep-seaport.