4 killed in SW Pakistan bombing

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) - At least four security personnel were killed and over two dozen injured on Tuesday in a suspected suicide bombing in southwestern Pakistan, police and local media reported.

The second such bombing in less than a week occurred in the remote Sibi district of Balochistan province, just 30 minutes after President Arif Alvi left the town following a traditional annual festival, said a police official.

Abdul Hafeez Rind, an official of the counter-terrorism cell of the Sibi police, told reporters that the blast could be the act of a lone bomber, adding that an investigation was underway to confirm the blast's nature.

There was no immediate claim for responsibility of the attack.

It came days after another deadly suicide bombing in a Shia mosque in the northwestern Peshawar city near the Afghan border, killing 62 people and injuring nearly 200 others.

The Daesh terror group, also known as ISIS, had claimed responsibility for the Peshawar bombing.

Local broadcaster Dawn News, quoting Dr. Qasim Baig, an official of the Balochistan Health Department, reported that at least 28 injured were brought to the hospital, including five in critical condition.

The mineral-rich Balochistan has long been a hotbed of militancy, where Baloch separatists and Pakistani Taliban affiliates have been targeting security forces and civilians.

A key route of the multi-billion-dollar China Pakistan Economic Corridor, the province has witnessed a resurgence in violence in recent months.