QUETTA: A man was killed and three others injured in an attack on Wednesday night in southwestern Balochistan province after unknown individuals threw a hand grenade at a group of civilians sitting outside their house, a senior police official said.

The attack was reported at 10 PM in the mountainous town of Aab-e-Gum, located in Kachi district, after unidentified men lobbed a hand grenade at four people, Rana Muhammad Dilawar, Superintendent of Police in the area, told Arab News over the phone.

“One man identified as Ahmed was killed in the grenade attack and three others were injured,” he said, adding: “The injured were shifted to Mach District Headquarter Hospital before two of them were referred to Quetta.”

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, though Pakistan’s restive province has been the site of a separatist insurgency for several decades, with militants belonging to groups like the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) often targeting members of the Pakistani armed forces, state-backed tribal leaders and non-local workers in such attacks.

“Police have been investigating the motives behind targeting civilians with a grenade attack,” Dilawar said. “Hunt for the attackers is also underway in the area who fled by taking advantage of the dark.”

Aab-e-Gum is a small town located some 73 kilometers southeast of Quetta, surrounded by rugged mountains, and has remained a stronghold of ethnic Baloch separatist groups, particularly the BLA.

The group has previously targeted Punjab-bound passenger trains in the area that cross the Bolan Pass.