File picture
Quetta:
A car bomb killed two people and wounded 16 others, including five paramilitary troops, in Pakistan's troubled southwest on Tuesday, police said.
The explosives were planted under a car parked on Saryab Road on the outskirts of Quetta, the capital of the oil- and gas-rich province of Baluchistan, which borders Afghanistan and Iran.
"At least two civilians were killed and 16 others, including five troops were injured in the explosion, which took place as an FC (Frontier Corps) convoy passed by the car," local police official, Abdul Qayyum, told AFP.
Another local police official, Noor Ahmad, confirmed the casualties and said the explosion "apparently targeted the FC convoy".
There was no claim of responsibility, but Baluchistan suffers from Islamist militancy, sectarian violence between Sunni and Shiite Muslims and a separatist insurgency.
On Sunday, the decapitated body of a British aid worker, Khalil Dale, was found in Quetta, almost four months after he was snatched by masked gunmen in the city. He was the third Westerner kidnapped and beheaded in Pakistan since 2002.
Hundreds of civilians have been killed since Baluch rebels rose up in 2004 against the federal Pakistani government, demanding political autonomy and a greater share of profits from the oil, gas and mineral resources in the region.
The explosives were planted under a car parked on Saryab Road on the outskirts of Quetta, the capital of the oil- and gas-rich province of Baluchistan, which borders Afghanistan and Iran.
"At least two civilians were killed and 16 others, including five troops were injured in the explosion, which took place as an FC (Frontier Corps) convoy passed by the car," local police official, Abdul Qayyum, told AFP.
Another local police official, Noor Ahmad, confirmed the casualties and said the explosion "apparently targeted the FC convoy".
There was no claim of responsibility, but Baluchistan suffers from Islamist militancy, sectarian violence between Sunni and Shiite Muslims and a separatist insurgency.
On Sunday, the decapitated body of a British aid worker, Khalil Dale, was found in Quetta, almost four months after he was snatched by masked gunmen in the city. He was the third Westerner kidnapped and beheaded in Pakistan since 2002.
Hundreds of civilians have been killed since Baluch rebels rose up in 2004 against the federal Pakistani government, demanding political autonomy and a greater share of profits from the oil, gas and mineral resources in the region.
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