A powerful car bomb outside the headquarters of Pakistan’s paramilitary security forces in Quetta on Tuesday killed at least ten people and injured 30 others, authorities said.
Police said that six militants stepped outside the car and engaged the forces in an intense shootout before detonating the vehicle, The Associated Press reported. All the attackers have been killed.
The blast was reportedly so powerful that residents heard it from miles away. Soon after the explosion, ambulances rushed to the site in front of the Frontier Constabulary, and rescuers transported the injured persons to nearby hospitals.
Visuals of the car explosion showed a car stopping in front of the paramilitary forces’ compound, following which an explosion takes place. Gunfire is heard after the blast, and the windows of the nearby buildings were shattered. Some nearby cars were also damaged in the explosion, visuals showed.
Mohammad Usman, who lives near the paramilitary HQ, said the blast shook the entire neighbourhood. “The windowpanes of my house shattered, and part of the building was damaged. But, thanks to God, we are all safe,” he said.
While no group has immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing, the suspicion is likely to fall on separatist groups that target civilians and security troops in insurgency-plagued Balochistan, whose provincial capital is Quetta.
Provincial health minister Bakhat Kakar said that there were concerns that the death toll could rise.
Interior minister Mohsin Naqvi informed that six attackers were involved in the assault, adding that all of them have been killed by the security forces.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and President Asif Ali Zardari condemned the bombing and hailed the security forces for their quick response to the assault.
Balochistan chief minister Sarfraz Bugti condemned the attack and said that security forces returned fire, killing all four attackers.
“Terrorists cannot break the nation’s resolve through cowardly acts, and the sacrifices of our people and security forces will not go in vain,” Bugti said in a statement. He added that his government is committed to making the province a peaceful and secure place.
This attack comes just weeks after a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a stadium near Quetta as supporters of a nationalist party were leaving a rally, leaving at least 13 people dead and 30 others injured.
