5 days ago
Roadside blast kills two tribal leaders, injures seven in southwestern Pakistan
QUETTA: A blast triggered by an improvised explosive device (IED) killed two tribal leaders and injured seven others on Saturday in a remote mountainous town in Quetta district, located in Pakistan's restive southwestern Balochistan province, a senior police official said.
The roadside blast took place in Mangla, an area of the Hanna Urrak valley located some 35 kilometers from the provincial capital of Quetta, when a convoy of tribal leaders was passing through the area.
'Sardar Abdul Salam Bazai and Sardar Nafay Bazai, accompanied by their companions, were heading toward a mining site when a powerful explosion hit their vehicle,' Naveed Khan, Station House Officer (SHO) in the area, told Arab News.
'Both the tribal elders were killed on the spot,' he continued. 'Police have commenced an investigation into the IED blast, while the injured have been shifted to Quetta city.'
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. However, Balochistan has witnessed a surge in separatist violence in recent months, including attacks on a passenger train and a school bus carrying children.
The latest attack took place on the day Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif was in Quetta and addressed a grand jirga of influential Baloch leaders alongside senior military officials.
Pakistan has blamed the recent surge in militant violence in Balochistan on 'Indian proxies,' calling groups like the Baloch Liberation Army 'Fitna Al-Hind.'
New Delhi denies any involvement in backing Baloch ethnic separatist groups in Pakistan's southwestern province, which shares borders with Iran and Afghanistan and has witnessed an insurgency for decades.
Speaking to Arab News, Dr. Arbab Kamran Kasi, head of the Trauma Center in Quetta, confirmed that those injured in Saturday's attack were brought to the medical facility.
'Seven injured were brought to the center and are now in a stable condition,' he said.
