Nine injured in Quetta car bomb blast

By Malik Siraj Akbar

QUETTA: A powerful car bomb blast in Quetta city on Monday injured nine people, three seriously, and damaged several vehicles and neighboring shops.

According to the details, at least nine people, including two children, were injured after a bomb exploded at the main gate of Junior Assistant Colony (JAR) colony in the posh Chaman Housing Society on Monday afternoon. Police said, unidentified people had parked an alto car laden with a bomb and went away as the blast took place after around thirty minutes.

As a result, nine people, including two children and an assistant commissioner, received injuries in the blast. The blast, eyewitnesses said, was very powerful and the explosion had been heard several kilometers away from the venue. Besides the car which had the bomb fixed, three motorcycles were completely destroyed by the blast. Further, two cars and a dozen of shops were also damaged because of the blast.

The injured people were identified as assistant commissioner Abdul Waheed, Najeebullah, Siddiqullah, Abdul Bari, Mohammad Umar, Shaukat Mahmood, Abdul Ghani, Mohammad Irfan and Mohammad Ismail.

The blast victims also included a vegetable-seller and two of his sons.

All the injured people were shifted to Quetta’s civil hospital for immediate medical treatment where the condition of three people was reported to be in a critical condition.

Police cordoned off the area and began the initial investigation in the blast that took place in a highly-guarded area of the provincial capital. Personnel of the Frontier Corps and bomb disposal squad also reached the spot and began the initial probe into the explosion.

No group has accepted responsibility for the bomb blast.

Security in rest of Quetta city was tightened after the blast.