At least 17 people were killed and several others injured, including deputy chairman of the senate Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, in a powerful blast on Friday in Pakistan’s south-western Balochistan province.
The bombing targetted Haideri when he came out of a religious seminary after addressing a gathering in Mastung area of the province shortly after the weekly Friday prayers. The area where the explosion took place is approximately 70 kilometres from provincial capital Quetta.
“The death toll has reached 17 and more than 30 people have been injured,” said Dr Daad Muhammad, a hospital administrator, according to AFP
Police said that 10 people were killed in the blast which was apparently a suicide attack.
Senior police officer Abdul Razzaq Cheema said that 30-40 people were injured. He said Haideri was slightly injured.
“I am alive, Allah has saved my life, it was a sudden blast, broken pieces of the windscreen hit me, I am injured but safe. The driver and other people sitting next to me were badly injured,” Haideri said on private TV channel SAMAA.
Citing sources, Geo TV said Haideri has been shifted to the civil hospital. Haideri later told Dunya TV in a brief chat that he received minor injuries.
Television footage showed Haideri’s vehicle was badly damaged. He was sitting in the car at the time of blast. His driver was killed in the attack.
