Balochistan unrest: Rickshaw bomb in Sibi kills 9, injures 21
Nine people were killed and 21 others sustained injuries in a bomb blast in the Nishtar Road area of Sibi, some 240 kilometres from Quetta, on Thursday.
The District Police Officer (DPO), Ghulam Ali Lashari, told The Express Tribune that the explosives were planted in an auto rickshaw, parked near a roadside hotel situated in the main bazaar. Consequently, nine people were killed and 21 others sustained injuries.
Security officials, including the Commissioner Sibi Division Umer Gull, Deputy Commissioner Aziz Ahmed Jamali, DPO Sibi Ghulam Ali Lashari and Frontier Corps’ (FC) Col Afzal Mehmmod, rushed to the spot. The police and law enforcement authorities cordoned off the area and opened initial investigations.
Rescue teams reached the scene and began shifting the deceased and injured to the local hospital.
“Around 20 to 25 kilogrammes of explosive material was used in the explosion,” Lashari said, adding that the area was crowded when the blast occurred. “We are investigating; for now we are not sure if it was a time bomb or remote control device,” he said.
Sources said at least 10 shops, four private vehicles, four motorcycles and two auto rickshaws were destroyed in the blast.
According to Sibi hospital sources, around five injured people are in critical condition and were referred to hospitals in Quetta for better medical treatment.
The deceased were identified as Khaliqdad, Nadra, Shoba Khan, Syed Hameed Shah, Mehrullah, Ghulam Haider, Mirza Khan, Raheem Khan and Nadir.
So far, no one has claimed responsibility for the blast, which targeted residents in a crowded district of Sibi. edited by Hammad sarfaraz
Published in The Express Tribune, October 12th, 2012.
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This kind of brutal and inhumane attacks can't be acceptable under any circumstances. However we can't overlook the fact those people who are doing it have been cornered. FC launches military operations in civilian areas and often most of the casualties are innocent civilians. There will definitely be backlash of such acts of FC, Violence always begets further violence. Fc should stop attacking Baloch settlements and These brutal bomb blasts should also not take place anymore.