ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and President Dr. Arif Alvi on Sunday offered their condolences as a bomb blast ripped through a crowded bazaar in southwest Pakistan, killing at least five and wounding 16 others, the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) said.
The blast took place in Barkhan, located at a distance of 360 miles northeast of Quetta, the capital of Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province. The incident takes place amid a surge in militant attacks over the past couple of months in Balochistan and Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
According to the U.S. news agency Associated Press (AP), Sajjad Afzal, the local police chief, said the bomb was apparently rigged to a motorcycle and was detonated by remote control. Apart from inflicting casualties, the bombing also left several shops at the market badly damaged. Rescuers took the wounded to the hospital, Afzal said.
"President Dr Arif Alvi and Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday condemned a blast in Barkhan, Balochistan province which resulted in the loss of precious lives," the APP said. Both offered condolences for the loss of lives in the incident.
PM Sharif directed the chief minister and inspector general of police to submit a report on the incident, the APP said. Meanwhile, the president stressed "expediting efforts to completely eliminate terrorists."
"The prime minister said that terrorists could not escape the punishment and those shedding innocent blood would be made an example," APP added.
While the Pakistani Taliban have increased attacks on the country's security forces after a fragile truce between the two sides broke down last year, Balochistan has long been the scene of a low-level insurgency by separatist groups who demand independence from the country.
While militant groups accuse Islamabad of depriving the impoverished province of its mineral wealth for the benefit of other provinces, Pakistan's military and political leaders deny this.
