QUETTA: Four people were killed and 20 others, among them children, injured in a bomb explosion in Sibi on Sunday.

According to police, explosives affixed to a bicycle parked in front of a restaurant in a market were detonated by remote control.

“Three people close to the place were killed on the spot and an injured man died in hospital,” District Police Officer Muhammad Anwar Kethran told Dawn, adding that a 13-year-old girl and four other children were among the injured.

A large number of people were at the market on the Chakar Khan Road when the incident took place. The blast rocked the entire town and triggered panic among people.

An improvised explosive device was used in the attack and it contained about 2kg of explosives, the police official said.

Another police officer said the target of the attack was not clear and it appeared to be aimed at spreading fear.

“A malang was among the deceased,” he said, adding that two of the dead had been identified as Ali Mohammad and Ali Nawaz.

Personnel of the Frontier Corps and police took the bodies and the injured to the Sibi District Hospital.

Several shops, the hotel and parked vehicles were badly damaged.

A spokesman for the banned Baloch Republican Guard claimed responsibility for the bomb attack and said security personnel were the target.

Published in Dawn, April 27th, 2015

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