At least four people were killed and fourteen wounded in a bomb blast at a crowded market in Pakistan’s Balochistan province on Sunday. The incident occurred in Barkhan, located around 500km east of the provincial capital Quetta. According to Sajjad Afzal, a local police chief, the bomb was attached to a motorcycle and detonated by remote control. The explosion caused extensive damage to several shops in the vicinity.
Rescue teams rushed the injured to Rakhni Hospital, while the area was cordoned off by police. Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo, Balochistan’s chief minister, condemned the attack as a terrorist act. He declared that the “anti-state elements” behind such violence would not be allowed to succeed.
The surge in violence in Pakistan is linked to the collapse of peace talks between the government and the Pakistan Taliban (TTP) last year. Balochistan is particularly vulnerable to attacks by armed fighters, sectarian groups and nationalist separatists. The unrest is believed to be a reaction to Beijing’s investment plans to link China’s Xinjiang province with the Arabian Sea in Balochistan through a network of roads and rail.
The TTP has been blamed for more than 100 attacks since walking out of a ceasefire with the Pakistani government last November. Meanwhile, the ISIL (ISIS) group is also active in the region. In a separate incident overnight, two police officers were killed when a magnetic bomb attached to their vehicle went off in Khuzdar district. Two other police officers were reported to be in critical condition.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for Sunday’s attack in Barkhan. However, authorities are determined to bring an end to the violence and restore peace in the region.