QUETTA: At least three people were killed and 11 others wounded after an improvised explosive device (IED) exploded in a border district in Pakistan southwestern Balochistan province, a government official said on Sunday.
The blast took place inside a market next to a security forces camp in Gulistan town of Killa Abdullah district, located close to the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
The explosives were planted on a vehicle and were detonated at around 8:30pm, according to Killa Abdullah Deputy Commissioner Muhammad Riaz Dawar.
“Majority of the shops inside the market were closed when the blast hit the market,” Dawar told Arab News.
“A wall of the security forces’ camp was also partially damaged due to the intensity of the blast.”
The bodies and injured were shifted to hospital. Two of the wounded persons were brought to Trauma Center in Quetta who were in stable condition and undergoing treatment, according to Dr. Arbab Kamran Kasi.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack in Gulistan town that is situated close to Afghanistan’s Kandahar province.
Pakistan is currently battling twin insurgencies: one led my religiously motivated groups, including the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), mainly in its Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province and the other by ethno-nationalist Baloch separatist groups in Balochistan.
The TTP and Daesh have also maintained some presence in Balochistan.
The latest attack comes two days after the TTP said it had targeted a security check post in Balochistan’s Khuzdar that killed four members of the Levies paramilitary force.
In Jan. 2025, Pakistan’s military said security forces had thwarted an attack on a paramilitary force’ camp in Gulistan, killing two suicide bombers among five attackers.
