QUETTA: At least 12 people, including a child and two security personnel, were killed and 30 others injured in a blast that took place near Quetta’s Bacha Khan chowk on Thursday, DawnNews reported.

The injured included at least four Frontier Corps (FC) personnel and the explosion damaged shops and buildings in the densely populated area of the provincial capital.

The United Baloch Army claimed responsibility for the blast.

Women and children were also among the injured.

According to local security officials, the blast occurred when a time bomb went off under a car parked in the area.

“At least 20 to 25 kilograms of explosives were used in the blast,” Bomb Disposal Squad (BSD) officials were quoted as saying by DawnNews.

Most of the dead were selling vegetables and second-hand clothes, police officer Zubair Mehmood said. Three police officers nearby were injured and a child was among the dead, he said.

Police and rescue teams had reached the site of the blast and security forces had cordoned off the area.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Thursday’s explosion but Quetta and Balochistan are frequently hit by bomb attacks. — With additional input from Reuters