Tribal elder killed in Hub car bomb explosion

A prominent political and tribal elder belonging to Balochistan’s troubled Awaran district was killed late Monday night in a car bomb blast which took place in the industrial town of Hub.

Police said Mir Akram Sajidi was traveling in his vehicle along with two other persons at Quetta-Karachi national highway, during which a powerful blast took place in his vehicle, resulting in his death and injuring two other persons.

Police rushed to the site soon after the blast and shifted the body and injured to the Jam Ghulam Qadir Memorial hospital Hub.

“Akram Sajdi was killed on the spot in the car blast,” District Police officer Tariq Mastoi said, adding that an IED was used for the blast which was planted under the vehicle. He said an investigation has been started in this regard.

Police said injured persons included a Quetta Electric Supply Company employee Abdul Karim sajdi and Muhammad Rafiq Sajdi.

It was the second incident of a car bomb blast in Hub town. Earlier, on October 11, a bomb was exploded in the car of a local journalist Shahid Zehri, in which he lost his life.

Meanwhile, the Balochistan Chief Minister, Mir Abdul Qudoos Bezenjo, who himself belongs to Awaran district has strongly condemned the targeting of political and tribal elder Akram Saidi in a bomb blast. He termed the bomb attack a cowardly act and said that the elements behind the blast would be soon brought to justice.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 2^nd, 2021.