A huge blast near Pakistan’s atomic commission office in Dera Ghazi Khan area in Punjab province has jolted the country, with the blast reportedly heard from 30-50 kilometres away in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces as well.
Videos on social media show army and fire personnel apparently rushing to the site of the explosion. It is not yet clear what caused the explosion. There is no confirmation of casualties or injuries.
This comes after a spade of suicide blasts in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces earlier this month, which claimed the lives of at least 65 people.
Mastung Assistant Commissioner Attahul Munim said that a suicide bomber blew himself up near the vehicle of Mastung Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Nawaz Gishkori, who was among the deceased. In less than 24 hours after a massive suicide blast in Balochistan’s Mastung district, another suicide explosion at a mosque in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Hangu district claimed five lives and injured 12 people on Friday.
According to provincial interim Information Minister Feroze Jamal, two suicide bombers managed to reach the mosque but their entries were restricted by police officers stationed there. One of the attackers was killed during a shootout with the police at the gate, while the other entered the mosque and blew himself up.
Meanwhile, in the wake of the Mastung explosion and the twin suicide blasts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Hangu district yesterday, Pakistan has vowed to strike all terrorist groups, including the Islamic State (ISIS) and the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP), Dawn reported.
Amid an increasing spree of terrorist attacks in Pakistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan have become the prime targets of such terror activities since the Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) ended its ceasefire with the government last year.
There were 99 attacks across the country in September this year, the highest in any single month since 2014, according to data by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS). These attacks have resulted in 112 deaths and 87 injuries, mostly targeting security forces personnel and civilians.