Abortive attack: Bomb targeting president’s son kills three passersby in Hub

Salman Mamnoon remains unhurt in the attack that also left 13 people injured

QUETTA: Three passersby were killed and over a dozen wounded in a bomb blast targeting the convoy of President Mamnoon Hussain’s son in Hub, the industrial town of Balochistan, Sunday evening. The motorcade of Lasbela district’s top police official was also driving past the area when the bomb fitted in a motorcycle was detonated.

“The convoys of the president’s son Salman Mamnoon and DPO Bashir Brohi were driving through the area when a huge explosion took place,” ASP Investigation Hub Jam Mandokhel told The Express Tribune by telephone.



Three passersby, including a child, were killed and 13 others, among them four policemen were wounded, he added. “The injured police officials, including an ASI, were part of Salman Mamnoon’s  escort,” Mandokhel said, adding that the vehicle the policemen were travelling in was partially damaged.

Mandokhel would not say Salman Mamnoon’s convoy was the target as, according to him, DPO Brohi’s motorcade was also driving past the area. “Both the convoys might have been the target,” he said, adding that they would investigate the attack from both angles.

“The bomb was planted in a motorcycle which was parked on a roadside near Jumma restaurant in the Bab-e-Balochistan area of Hub,” Mandokhel said. “The device was triggered through a remote control.” The restaurant was packed with customers when the bomb was detonated, according to eyewitness.

The casualties were driven to the Jam Ghulam Qadir Hospital in Hub. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 25^th, 2015.