4 killed, 8 injured in bomb blast in southwestern Pakistan
Islamabad, Feb. 26 (EFE).- At least four people were killed and eight others were wounded in a blast in Barkhan district in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province on Sunday morning, an official said.
A local government administrator in Barkhan said that the blast occurred outside a barber shop in the Rakhni market, adding that some shops had also been damaged.
“The improvised explosive device was planted in a motorbike which exploded at around 10am in the morning,” assistant commissioner Khadim Bhangar Barkhan told EFE.
He said that “four people were killed while eight others were injured in the blast.”
According to Barkhan, two of the eight wounded were in a critical condition. The wounded have been shifted into a hospital in Rakhni.
Law enforcement agencies have cordoned off the area and started search operations for the perpetrators.
Unverified videos circulating on social media showed locals carrying bloodied victims away in panic as a crowd gathered at the site of the blast. Some broken motorbikes and charred vegetables could be seen on the road.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the incident and prayed for the speedy recovery of the injured, a press release from the PM office said.
The premier called for a report from the chief minister of Balochistan and the provincial police chief.
“Terrorists cannot escape punishment and those shedding blood will be made an example of,” Sharif was quoted as saying.
Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo condemned the blast and directed the authorities to take all possible measures to arrest the culprits.
“Those who shed the blood of innocent people are enemies of humanity,” he said in a statement.
No group or individual has claimed responsibility for the attack yet.
In a separate incident, a police convoy was targeted with an IED blast in Khuzdar district on Saturday.
The driver of the police van was killed while two other policemen were injured in the blast.
Baloch Liberation Army, in a statement on Sunday, claimed responsibility for the attack.
Pakistan has seen a sharp increase in terrorist incidents since last year after the withdrawal of the foreign forces from neighboring Afghanistan.
Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which border Afghanistan, have been the most affected by terrorism-related activities.
Earlier this month, two army officers were killed and three soldiers were wounded as an IED exploded during a sanitization operation in Bareli area of Kohlu district in Balochistan. EFE
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