Baloch nationalists: Blast at Hub hotel kills 1, injures 7

Initial investigations suggest it was a hand grenade attack: police official.

QUETTA:

A man was killed and seven others injured on Sunday in an explosion at a roadside hotel in Hub.

Customers were sitting inside Brishna hotel when the blast happened, said senior police officer Rafiq Lasi.

“Initial investigations suggest it was a hand grenade attack,” he said, adding that the blast injured eight people, one of whom succumbed to his injuries after reaching the hospital.

Sources, however, say that explosives were planted under a chair.

The man killed was identified as Naeem, a relative of the hotel owner, while the injured included Rahimullah, Mahirullah, Ghulam Qadir, Barkat Ali, Ghulam Farooq, Jan Mohammad and Imran.

A heavy contingent of police and other law enforcement agencies rushed to the spot and cordoned off the area.

The injured were shifted to Jam Ghulam Qadir hospital at first but later referred to Karachi.

Meanwhile, Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility for the attack.

The spokesperson for BLA, who introduced himself as Azad Baloch, phoned different media offices and said that his organisation carried out the blast in Hub.

He said that such attacks will continue in the future.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 1^st, 2011.