Islamabad: At least a dozen people,
including two paramilitary Frontier Corps personnel, were
injured today when a bomb went off at a key thoroughfare in
the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta.
Police said a bomb planted in a motorcycle exploded
outside a hotel on Jinnah Road in Quetta.
Two paramilitary personnel and 10 passers-by were
injured. Two of the injured are in a critical condition,
hospital officials said.
Police and law enforcement personnel cordoned off the
area immediately after the blast and launched a search for
those responsible for the attack.
Officials of the bomb disposal squad said the blast
was caused by an explosive device fitted with a timer.
The hotel's management alerted police about the
suspicious motorcycle but the device went off before the bomb
disposal squad reached the spot.
No group claimed responsibility for the blast.
Such attacks in southwestern Balochistan province are
usually blamed on national groups waging a campaign for
greater autonomy.
PTI
First Published: Saturday, February 06, 2010, 21:06