Islamabad: An explosion on Wednesday in Quetta, capital of Pakistan’s restive Balochistan province, left at least three people dead and nine injured, police said.
According to Quetta police, the blast occurred as unidentified assailants targeted two shops with a grenade and then indulged in firing before escaping.
The explosion also damaged some vehicles and smashed the glasses of nearby homes and shops.
In another incident, two people were injured in a grenade attack on a photographer’s shop in a different part of the city.
Earlier on September 21, at least 11 people were injured in an explosion in the provincial capital.
Balochistan is plagued by a long-running separatist insurgency involving ethnic Baloch militant groups and the mineral-rich southwestern region also has a history of violence by religious extremists.
Police said both businesses were probably attacked because they were owned by Punjabis — Pakistan’s biggest ethnic group which has traditionally dominated the army, bureaucracy and political parties.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the strikes but Baloch separatists are active in the area. They often attack government forces, installations and people who have been settled in Balochistan from Punjab.
Baloch nationalists are seeking to stop what they see as the exploitation of the region’s rich natural resources and alleged rights abuses, including extra-judicial killings and kidnappings.
