A suspected suicide bomber on Saturday tried to strike a political protest rally in Pakistan‘s southwestern Balochistan province, according to a local official.
“A suicide bomber blew himself up near the protest rally but so far there is no report of civilian casualties, only the bomber was killed,” a police control room official in the Mastung district told Anadolu by phone.
The official said the bomber aimed to hit the rally of Balochistan National Party chief and nationalist figure Sardar Akhtar Mengal near the Lak Pass area in Mastung. Mengal was unharmed.
On Thursday, eight passengers were killed in two separate incidents in the province. Earlier, four laborers from Punjab were shot dead in the Kalat district, and four police officers were killed in Noshki.
No group has claimed the latest attack. The banned Balochistan Liberation Army, however, has carried out similar assaults in the past.
The mineral-rich province has faced a low-level insurgency for years. BLA fighters have stepped up attacks in recent weeks.
Earlier this month, the group hijacked a passenger train in the Bolan region, killing 31 people, including five paramilitary personnel. Security forces killed 33 suspected militants in a day-long operation.
Separatist groups have long fought for the “liberation” of Balochistan, claiming it was forcibly annexed into Pakistan in 1947 after the end of British colonial rule.