Blast in Quetta injures 8

Three-year-old girl among the injured

QUETTA: Eight people, including a three-year-old girl, were wounded in a remote controlled bombing on Quetta’s Spini Road aimed at a police vehicle passing by the area.

“The miscreants detonated the explosion when the police mobile of DSP Pashtoonabad Naeem Khan passed by. The terrorists wanted to target law enforcing agencies,” SSP Operations Aetzaz Ahmed told The Express Tribune. The improvised explosive device (IED) was allegedly packed in a box and kept beside Spini Road near Bakra Mandi.

A pick-up car was also damaged in the blast, and the windowpanes and glasses of several shops and buildings were shattered due to the impact of the blast.

Rescue workers, Frontier Corps (FC) and police rushed to the spot soon after the explosion, and law enforcement agencies cordoned the area.

The wounded were transported to Bolan Medical Complex (BMC) Teaching Hospital and Provincial Sandeman Hospital for treatment.

“The DSP was not the specific target, terrorists wanted to target any law enforcing agencies,” Aetzaz said, adding that FC and police frequently patrol Spini Road. “The DSP suddenly adopted this route, it was not a planned visit. Initial investigations suggest terrorists want to target law enforcing agencies,” he told The Express Tribune.

“The victims were all passersby. Three-year-old Habiba Khan, teenagers Kifayatullah, Naik Mohammed and Watiullah were among the injured,” he added.

Terror attacks frequently take place in Quetta despite the tall claims of the Balochistan government and police regarding the improvement of the law and order situation.  Police and FC have arrested more than 70 suspects during search operations in different neighbourhoods of Quetta.

At least four people were killed and more than 20 wounded in bombings that occurred in Quetta solely in the past three days. The banned United Baloch Front (UBF) claimed responsibility for targeting a barber shop and a photographer’s studio. However, no group has claimed responsibility for the latest attack.