Two children and a woman killed in blast in Pakistan’s unruly Balochistan province

Karachi: Two children and a woman were killed and 13 people, including two policemen, were injured on Saturday when a blast occurred at a market in Pakistan’s restive Balochistan province, according to media reports.

The blast occurred at a main market near Surkhab Chowk in Pishin district and killed two children on the spot and wounded 14 others, The Dawn newspaper reported quoting a list of the casualties issued by the medical superintendent at Pishin Civil Hospital.

Thirteen of the wounded were referred to the Quetta Trauma Centre where a woman succumbed to her injuries, a list issued by the hospital showed. Five of the injured were in serious condition.

The incident is the latest in a string of attacks on police officials and checkposts, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces, the report said.

Attacks have escalated after the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) broke a fragile ceasefire agreement with the government in 2022 and vowed to target security forces.

According to Pishin City Station House Officer (SHO) Mujibur Rehman, the two injured policemen were in critical condition.

“Apparently, the explosive material was planted in a motorcycle,” SHO Rehman said, adding that as a result, three vehicles were damaged.

The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) and the Bomb Disposal Squad have reached the incident site to collect evidence for a probe, the official said.

State broadcaster PTV News said that the blast occurred near the Pishin deputy commissioner’s office.

The attack comes days after two pedestrians were injured in a roadside explosion in the Noshki district, which according to the police occurred when a convoy of paramilitary forces Frontier Corps was passing by.

Last month, an improvised explosive device (IED) blast in Pishin left three Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) officials and three pedestrians injured. Police officials had said the attack was aimed at a CTD vehicle carrying the department’s personnel.

The same day, a soldier of the Quick Response Force of the Frontier Corps South was killed and seven others injured in Kech district’s Buleda area, The Dawn reported.