KARACHI, Jan 31: At least 17 people, including two policemen, were injured in a grenade attack in Jaffarabad district in Pakistan’s restive southwestern Balochistan province, police said.
Senior police officials said that unidentified motorcyclists hurled a hand-grenade near a shop in a busy market in Dera Allahyar town of Jaffarabad district on Sunday night.
At least 17 people, including two traffic constables, were injured in the attack, they said.
No group so far claimed responsibility for the attack.
The injured were moved for treatment to hospitals in Larkana.
According to hospital officials, at least four of the injured were in critical condition.
One police official didn’t rule out the chances of the two constables being the target of the grenade attack as militants and Baloch separatists have frequently targeted security forces and installations in the province.
Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo and Balochistan Assembly Speaker Mir Jan Muhammad Khan Jamali condemned the incident and described it as an “act of terrorism.”
Balochistan, bordering Iran and Afghanistan, is home to a long-running violent insurgency. Baloch insurgent groups have previously carried out several attacks targeting China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects in the region.
On Friday, at least four persons were killed and a dozen injured when a vehicle of the security forces hit a landmine in the Sui area of the province.
Ten Pakistani soldiers were killed when terrorists attacked a security forces’ checkpost in Kech district of the troubled province on the night of January 25-26. (PTI)
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