Five injured in Pakistan bombings
Two bombings have wounded at least five people near a government office in Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province in southwestern Pakistan.
Autonomy-seeking rebels have been waging a low-key insurgency in Baluchistan for a greater share of the province’s gas resources.
Umar Draz, a local police chief, said the explosions on Thursday occurred seven minutes apart.
The first bomb was planted in a car outside the office of the state broadcasting regulator, and the second went off on a plot of land nearby, he said.
The blasts damaged several vehicles and shattered windows of offices and homes, Draz said. The wounded were taken to a government hospital.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the bombings, and police said they were still investigating.
Autonomy issue
“We’ve got some clues. Some people saw them planting explosives under vehicles” |
“We’ve got some clues. Some people saw them planting explosives under vehicles”, Salman Saeed, deputy provincial police chief, told Reuters.
“According to the witness descriptions, they were Baluch. The BLA could be behind this,” he said, referring to the Baluch Liberation Army which is fighting for autonomy for the region.
Baluchistan is Pakistan‘s biggest but poorest province. It also contains Pakistan‘s main natural gas reserves.
Baluch nationalists have long complained that the province does not get a fair share of the profits from the gas.
Rebels have stepped up attacks on infrastructure, including gas pipelines, as well as security posts over the past year.
Pakistan has accused its old rival, India, of meddling in the province of rugged mountains and deserts on the Afghan border.