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An explosion in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province, killed at least two police officers and injured nearly 21 people.
Officials said that at least two policemen were killed and nearly 20 others were injured in an explosion in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province in southwestern Pakistan.
“At least two policemen were killed in the explosion in Quetta,” Balochistan government spokesperson Liaquat Shahwani said in a statement on Sunday.
Provincial Health Department spokesperson Wasim Baig said that another 21 people were injured, including 12 policemen.
A senior police officer said that the injured had been transferred to a civilian hospital in the city.
An injured police officer was transferred to a hospital in Quetta, Pakistan [Jamal Taraqai/EPA]Shawani said that four passersby were also injured in the explosion of a police motorized van in Tanzem Square near the upscale Serena Hotel.
A local police official said the bomb was placed on a motorcycle and exploded near a van full of police officers. The windows of nearby buildings were shattered by the explosion.
No organization has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Shawani said that security agencies have sealed off the area and launched a hunt to arrest the perpetrators.
Balochistan, bordering Afghanistan and Iran, is the largest and most turbulent province in Pakistan.
It faces multiple threats from armed groups, including the Taliban, Sunni fighters targeting Shia Muslims, and nationalist insurgents seeking independence for the province.
The violence was seen to a certain extent as the insurgent’s response to Beijing’s investment plan to connect China’s Xinjiang province with the Gulf of Oman through Balochistan through road and rail networks.
In Balochistan, attacks against staff from law enforcement agencies and other provinces, especially those working on projects initiated by China under a US$62 billion investment plan, are common.
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