Terror revisits Quetta: Bomb goes off outside restaurant; 13 injured

Bomb was strapped to bicycle; two children, woman among the injured

QUETTA: At least 13 people, among them two children and a woman, were wounded in a bomb explosion outside a restaurant on Smugali Road in the Punj Fitti area Saturday night.

According to the police, an improvised explosive device (IED) was strapped to a bicycle which was parked outside the restaurant, Khilji Mutton Shop. The bomb went off with a loud bang, injuring 13 people, mostly passersby. Rescuers, police and security forces rushed to the spot and shifted the casualties to the Jinnah Hospital and state-run Provincial Sandeman Hospital.

The windows of the restaurant and nearby shops were shattered due to the thud of the blast. According to the Bomb Disposal Squad, four to five kilos of explosives were used in the device.

“An infant, a three-year-old boy and a woman are among the injured,” a police official said, adding that two of the injured were in critical condition.

Punj Fitti is one of the busiest areas of Quetta where restaurants are often packed with diners on Saturday nights. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the blast.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 21^st, 2014.