At least 12 people were wounded when a bomb hidden under a cot exploded near a restaurant where people had gathered to celebrate Independence Day in Balochistan late Monday, police said. The explosive device, fitted with a timer, was placed outside the restaurant, local police chief Mir Zubair Mehmood said. It was timed to explode late in the night when people had gathered on the eve of Pakistan’s 66th Independence Day being observed on Tuesday, he said. “At least 12 people were injured, one of them is in serious condition,” Mehmood told AFP.
He blamed militants, saying “they wanted to create panic to disturb the national day celebrations”. There was no claim of responsibility for the latest incident but the province which borders Iran and Afghanistan suffers from Taliban attacks.
