A car bomb that has exploded near a market in Pakistan’s restive southwest has killed four people and wounded 20, according to a government official. The attack was near a market in Qillah Abdullah, a city in the province of Balochistan, Deputy Commissioner Abdullah Riaz said on Monday. The province bordering Afghanistan is plagued by violence mounted by separatist groups. The blast on Sunday night damaged several shops and the outer wall of a building housing paramilitary forces, the official said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombing. A spokesperson for the Balochistan government condemned the attack and said an investigation is under way. Local security official Ghulab Khan told the AFP news agency that an improvised explosive device (IED) had been planted in a parked car, suggesting that the target was the paramilitary site but the attack was bungled. “It seems the IED exploded before reaching its intended destination,” he said. “All those killed are civilian passers-by.” Balochistan has long been plagued by violence with an array of separatist groups staging attacks, including the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), which was designated as a “terrorist organisation” by the United States in 2019.

Full report : 4 killed, 20 injured in blast in Pakistan’s Balochistan province.