At least 5 dead, 38 injured after bomb explosion in Pakistan

At least five people were killed after powerful blast went off outside the City police station in Quetta. The five dead, included two Pakistani security personnel while 38 38 others were injured, a top police official said today.

The blast is said to be targeting a police vehicle at the Bacha Khan Chowk in the remit of the City Police Station on Tuesday, Quetta's Deputy Inspector-General (DIG) of police Abdul Razzaq Cheema said.

The target of the blast appeared to be the Station House Officer (SHO) of the area who received some injuries and has been shifted to a hospital, the DIG told reporters.

"The bomb went off as soon as SHO Shaffat got down from his vehicle," he said, adding that the condition of the SHO is said to be critical.

Cheema said it was too early to confirm whether it was a suicide attack or the blast caused by a remotely triggered device. However, the police said the bomb was planted in a motorcycle parked close to the patrolling vehicle.

The injured included women and children who were passing through the area when the bomb went off in the heart of the city. The condition of at least six of them was stated to be serious.

The police have cordoned off the area.

The banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for the blast, according to a report in a leading Pakistani newspaper.

It was the second bomb explosion within the last seven days in Balochistan. On July 23, a blast had occurred in the Eastern Bypass area which left four people dead and 32 injured.