Pakistan: 4 killed in Balochistan blast

By Islamuddin Sajid

ISLAMABAD (AA): At least four people were killed and 16 others wounded in a bomb blast targeting a public gathering in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province on Thursday evening, an official confirmed.

“A bomb (IED – Improvised Explosive Device) exploded at the main gate of Science College Ground Quetta City, where participants of a public meeting were dispersing from the ground when the blast occurred at the main gate,” said the Counter-Terrorism Department spokesman in a statement.

The injured were shifted to a civil hospital in Quetta, while the security forces and police have cordoned off the area and launched a search operation, it added.

Police said the target of the bombing was leaders and workers of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam who were attending Shuhada Conference.

“The powerful explosion took place when the participants of the conference were coming out of the college at the conclusion of the conference,” a spokesman for the Counter Terrorism Department said.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

The province is a key route of the $64-billion China Pakistan Economic Corridor project, which aims to connect China’s strategically important northwestern Xinjiang province to the Gwadar port in southern Pakistan, through a network of roads, railways, and pipelines to transport cargo, oil, and gas.

Additional report by The Muslim News

[Map of Pakistan fro CIA factbook/Public Domain]

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