One killed, 20 hurt in Kohlu explosion

QUETTA: At least one person was killed and 20 injured in an explosion in the main market of Balochistan’s Kohlu district on Friday.

According to the medical superintendent of the Kohlu District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital, Asghar Marri, more than 21 patients were brought to the facility. “One person has died while 10 patients are in critical condition. We have referred them to Dera Ghazi Khan,” he said.

Marri added that the remaining patients were being treated at the Kohlu hospital. Balochistan Education Minister Mir Naseebullah Marri said that a medical emergency had been imposed at the hospital and timely aid was being provided to the injured people. “If the condition of the injured worsens, they will be shifted to Multan,” he added.

Meanwhile, police and other law enforcement agencies cordoned off the site of the incident but details about the nature of the blast were yet to be confirmed.

Adviser to the Chief Minister for Home Mir Zia Langove, in a statement, strongly condemned the blast and sought a report from the Kohlu deputy commissioner. He said terrorists would not be allowed to succeed in their “nefarious purposes”.

Langove issued directives to provide the “best possible treatment” to the injured. The adviser also expressed his condolences to the heirs of the dead and the injured persons.

A few hours later, a suicide bomb blast was reported in a rural neighbourhood of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Mardan district, the police confirmed.

According to Mardan Division’s regional police officer (RPO), Muhammad Ali Khan, no casualties were reported. “The suicide bomber killed himself in the blast,” he told reporters after visiting the site. The official said that the police and bomb disposal unit had started investigating the incident, while security in the region had also been beefed up.