At least one person was killed and 16 injured when a powerful blast ripped through a busy area today in southwest Pakistan’s volatile Balochistan province.
The explosion occurred at Bacha Khan area, a business centre, in the heart of the provincial capital Quetta.
City police chief Abdul Razzaq Cheema said explosives were apparently hidden inside a bag and was placed on the roadside.
“One person was killed and 16 injured,” he said.
The blast smashed windows of shops and plazas and also damaged vehicles parked nearby.
Police arrested a suspect from the site of the attack and shifted him to an undisclosed location for questioning.
Nobody took responsibility for the attack, but both Baloch nationalists and Taliban militants often carry out attacks in the region to target civilians and security forces.
Also, targeted killings have picked up in Quetta.
On June 7, unknown assailants killed five people belonging to the Hazara community in Bacha Khan Chowk. Two persons from the community were gunned down on May 27.
