UC chairman among seven dead in blast near Balochistan's Panjgur

The explosion resulted in the complete destruction of a vehicle in Balgatar area of Kech district, says levies officer

QUETTA:

At least seven people including a chairman of a union council were killed in a bomb explosion in Balochistan's Panjgur district on Monday night.

Levies sources said a vehicle was targeted through a remote-controlled blast in the Balgatar area of Kech district near Panjgur border. Ishaq Balgatri, the UC chairman was among the dead.

"The victims were going in a vehicle for a wedding party when targeted," Balochistan Home Minister Mir Ziaullah Langove confirmed. He said miscreants targeted the vehicle through a remote-controlled bomb.

A levies official disclosed that the blast happened 140 kilometers away from Panjgur near the Kech district's border.

Panjgur and Kech also share borders with Iran.

Dozens of deadly attacks on security forces and government-backed groups have taken place in the area before.

The remaining six persons who died were identified as Ibrahim son of Badal, Nizam alias Badal, son of Wajdad, Fida Hussain son of Momin, Sarfraz son of Bandu, Safar Khan son of Haider and Muhammad Qasim.

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Among them, Muhammad Qasim was a resident of Prom area of Panjgur while the rest were all residents of Balgatar.

According to the levies official, Yakub Balgatri, father of Ishaq Balgatri, and 10 of his companions were also killed in the same area in September 2014. The outlawed Baloch Liberation Front (BLF) claimed responsibility for the attack.

Officials fear involvement of the same organisation in today’s incident.

In another incident, Sufyan, a resident of Karachi, was shot dead at Sangani Sar in Turbat, the headquarter of the Kech district.