QUETTA: At least 14 people, including a police official, were martyred on Tuesday evening when a suicide bomber blew himself up at Balochistan National Party’s (BNP) rally in Quetta, officials said.
At least 40 people, including former MPA Ahmed Nawaz, were wounded in the explosion, which took place in the parking lot of a stadium at Sariab Road in Balochistan’s provincial capital where hundreds of BNP members had gathered, officials said.
According to reports, suicide bomber blew himself up near the vehicles of BNP chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal, Mehmood Khan Achakzai, ANP leader Asghar Achakzai, and other political leaders, however, they miraculously escaped unhurt in the blast. More than a dozen cars and motorcycles were badly damaged in the explosion.
Government official Hamza Shafaat said the rally was held to commemorate the anniversary of the death of Sardar Ataullah Mengal, a nationalist leader and former chief minister. His son Sardar Akhtar Mengal, who was in attendance, is safe, Shafaat said. “The reports we have say that the bomb went off in a parking area as the people were leaving the rally,” he said. Police were investigating the blast, which appeared to be a suicide bombing, police official Athar Rasheed said. No one has claimed responsibility.
Following the incident, an emergency was declared in hospitals and doctors and staff were called in. Balochistan Governor Jaffar Mandokhal and Chief Minister Mir Sarfraz Bugti condemned the incident. The chief minister said it was a cowardly act of the enemies of humanity. A high-level investigation into the blast has been ordered.
Balochistan Home Department said in a statement that the provincial government has ordered an investigation into the blast at Shahwani Stadium, adding that the injured are being shifted to hospitals, while security forces have cordoned off the area and started collecting evidence.