Quetta, Pakistan, Nov 11: A small rocket struck a residential area of Quetta in southwestern Pakistan today, and when authorities arrived at the scene a bomb and a hand grenade hidden nearby exploded, injuring at least nine people, police said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack in Quetta, which recently has been the scene of scattered violence against its Shiite minority. The rocket struck an electric pole, snapping the wires but causing no other serious damage, policeman Mohammed Nadeem said.
About an hour later, when police and journalists arrived at the scene, a bomb hidden in a nearby garbage bin and a hand grenade concealed in a drain went off, injuring seven policemen and two reporters, Nadeem said. One of the policeman was seriously hurt.
Jam Mohammed Yousaf, Chief Minister of the province, blamed unidentified groups for the attack and said police would hunt down their members and stop them.
In separate attacks earlier this month, two rockets hit another residential area of the city, and a hand grenade exploded at a police checkpoint, wounding two policemen. No one claimed responsibility for those attacks in the city, the capital of Baluchistan province. Bureau Report