A bomb blast targeting a vehicle carrying security forces killed a minor girl and injured 15 others today on the outskirts of Quetta city in Pakistan’s restive Balochistan province.
Militants targeted the vehicle of Frontier Corps (FC) through an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) on Quetta’s Sariab road area, Superintendent of Police Imran Qureshi said.
He said the militants had planted the IED in a rickshaw parked on the road.
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“There was a powerful blast when a FC vehicle was passing by in the area,” Qureshi was quoted as saying by Dawn news.
The SP said the intensity of the blast smashed the windows of nearby homes and shops located in the area.
City police chief Abdul Razzaq Cheema confirmed the attack and said three of the wounded were seriously injured.
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The wounded also included up to eight children.
The injured persons were quickly rushed to Civil Hospital Quetta for medical treatment. Doctors and paramedics were called in on an emergency basis to treat the injured persons.
A minor girl succumbed to her injuries on her way to a hospital.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. However, police suspect that Baloch militants operating in the area carried out the attack.
Sariab road is considered to be one of the sensitive areas of Quetta. Militants have been targeting security forces in the area for almost a decade.
Quetta has been hit by numerous attacks in recent years, including two devastating bombings in early 2013 which targeted minority Hazara Shia Muslims and killed nearly 180 people.