SUICIDE BOMBER IN PAKISTAN’S QUETTA KILLS AT LEAST 13 PEOPLE

A suicide car bomber killed at least 13 people, including four police officers, in an attack near a checkpoint in the volatile Pakistani city of Quetta on Friday, officials said.

Abdul Razzaq Cheema, director general of police in Balochistan province, told Reuters it appeared the bomber had detonated a car packed with explosives.

At least 11 bodies were taken to hospital, along with 19 wounded people, said Wasim Baig, a spokesman for the Civil Hospital in Quetta.

Four of those killed were police officers, while nine security officials were among the wounded, said Fareed Sumalan, a doctor at the Civil Hospital.

Jamaat ur Ahrar, a splinter group of the Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility for the attack in a message by spokesman Asad Mansur.

Balochistan government spokesman Anwar ul Haq Kakar said the blast happened near the office of the inspector general of police when officers stopped the car near a checkpoint. “It’s possible the IG office was the target, or the assailants were trying to enter the (army) cantonment which is close by,” he said.

Television footage showed emergency services rushing to the scene, which was covered in debris, while security officials cordoned off the area.

The normally busy intersection was relatively quiet because Friday was a public holiday ahead of the Eid celebrations marking the end of the holy month of Ramzan. REUTERS