Screengrab of the aftermath of the explosion
Nine people, including a traffic policeman and four children, were injured on Wednesday following an explosion on Quetta’s Zarghoon Road.
According to local police, the explosives were placed in a pile of trash. They said the detonation occurred when the children were sifting through the garbage. In a post on X, formerly Twitter, confirming the explosion, Quetta Commissioner Hamza Shafqaat urged the public to avoid traveling on Zarghoon Road for a few hours to allow police to complete their investigations without hindrance.
Meanwhile, police stressed that it remained unclear what type of explosives had detonated. They also maintained that there was no prior security threat.
According to a spokesman of the Quetta Trauma Center, two of the injured are in critical condition.
With less than a month remaining until general elections on Feb. 8, the country is under heightened security, especially as several political leaders have either been threatened or faced attacks during their electoral campaigns.
The government has blamed the Afghan Taliban’s unwillingness to act against militants of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, who it alleges use Afghan soil to stage attacks in Pakistan.