10 injured in Quetta grenade attack

Police say five of the injured are labourers targeted by miscreants

QUETTA:

At least 10 people were injured on Wednesday in a grenade attack on Quetta’s Samungli Road, Balochistan government’s spokesperson Liaquat Shahwani said.

Police officials have claimed that at least five of those injured are labourers, who were targeted by unidentified miscreants at their work site.

Condemning the incident, Shahwani said that seven of the injured were under treatment at the Bolan Medical College, while the remaining three were being treated at the Civil Hospital.

The area was cordoned off by security forces following the incident.

“Those involved in terrorism cannot escape the law,” the spokesperson stated, adding that those responsible "will be arrested and brought to justice”.

Talking to media after the blast, Parliamentary Committee on Kashmir Chairman Shehryar Khan Afridi condemned the incident and said the enemy has once again tried to destabilise Balochistan by a grenade attack which was an act of cowardice but asserted that the enemy would fail in its evil designs.

The chairman visited the site of the attack and met the people injured in the incident.

Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Kamal condemned the attack in a statement, expressed sympathy with the injured and directed authorities concerned to submit a report at the earliest.

He maintained the coward act of anti-state elements could not diminish high spirits and moral of people of Balochistan.

In September, at least four people were injured when an improvised explosive device (IED), mounted on a motorcycle parked near a mosque, went off on Quetta's Sariab road.

The blast occurred during Friday prayers. Security forces had cordoned off the area, and shifted the injured to a nearby medical facility.

(With input from APP)

Published in The Express Tribune, October 15^th, 2020.