Six people were killed and 15 injured in a powerful bomb attack targeting a rally of the Awami National Party in the Kochlak area of Quetta on Friday. The bomb went off in Kochlak Bazaar, close to the venue of the ANP rally. ANP’s provincial vice president Malik Qasim and a young girl were among the dead.
The president of the ANP Balochistan and his wife were also injured in the attack. Five vehicles were destroyed and as many electricity poles fell to the ground due to the explosion’s impact. Witnesses said the blast was followed by firing, but it could not be immediately ascertained who was responsible for the gunfire. Security forces rushed to the site and cordoned off the area, while rescue teams moved the injured to hospitals. An emergency was declared at Civil Hospital, Quetta.
No group has claimed responsibility for the blast that occurred hours before Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf’s visit to the provincial capital. PM’s Adviser on Interior Rehman Malik ordered the Balochistan IGP to submit a report at the earliest. According to a DIG of police, seven to eight kilogrammes of explosives had been fitted to a cycle parked near rally venue and was detonated remotely.
Several political parties condemned the blast and demanded immediate action against the perpetrators. ANP leadership, including Asfandyar Wali Khan, Afrasyab Khatak, Mian Iftikhar and others condemned the blast. The PkMAP, Hazara Democratic Party, TI Balochistan and other political and religious parties also condemned the attack. The CM condemned the perpetrators of the blast, saying anti-state elements involved in such heinous and inhuman incidents were targeting innocent people in the country. He said that no religion and civilized society allowed the killing of innocent people. Meanwhile, four people were killed and a body was found in Quetta on Friday, while a woman was injured in a landmine blast in Jaffarabad district.
According to police, unidentified armed men opened fire and killed two men identified as Haji Wazir Khan and Haji Nek Muhammad Khilji at Samungli Road in the outskirts of Quetta. In another incident, unidentified people gunned down Noor Alam in Sariab Mill area and fled. Separately, unidentified men barged into a house in Bank Colony in Sariab area and shot dead Muhammad Tahir. The deceased belonged to Sargodha district of Punjab. Police also recovered an unidentified body in Quetta and shifted it to Civil Hospital for medical- legal formalities.
