PAKISTAN: Car bomb explodes in a residential neighbourhood in Quetta killing nine and wounding dozens

Record ID: 357448

  • Title: PAKISTAN: Car bomb explodes in a residential neighbourhood in Quetta killing nine and wounding dozens
  • Date: 31st December 2011
  • Summary: QUETTA, PAKISTAN (DECEMBER 30, 2011) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (REUTERS) ***NIGHT SHOTS*** VARIOUS OF AMBULANCE DRIVING TOWARDS BLAST SITE CROWD GATHERED OUTSIDE POLICE BARRIER AROUND BLAST SITE SMOKE AND FLAMES RISING FROM RESIDENTIAL BUILDING SECURITY AT BLAST SITE AMBULANCE CARRYING WOUNDED LEAVING SITE PARAMILITARY SOLDIERS WALKING TOWARDS BLAST SITE ANOTHER AMBULANCE LE
  • Embargoed: 15th January 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Pakistan, Pakistan
  • Country: Pakistan
  • Topics: Crime,Domestic Politics,People
  • Reuters ID: LVA8H0JWHLWRLYX1YDI9HAZBJVVL
  • Story Text: A bomber remotely detonated an explosive-laden car outside the home of a Pakistani former minister on Friday (December 30), killing at least nine people and wounding 30, police officials in the city of Quetta, the provincial capital of Baluchistan, said.
    The car was parked outside the house of Naseer Mengal, a former minister of petroleum and natural resources, according to police officials. Several militants exchanged fire with private security guards after the blast.
    Paramilitary forces cordoned off the area and were searching for the assailants.
    The explosion shattered windows and knocked down electricity lines. Clouds of smoke arose from burning cars at the site of the bombing.
    Emergency services and police officials said they expected the casualty figure to rise.
    Baluchistan is Pakistan's biggest but poorest province, where Baluch separatists militants are fighting a protracted insurgency to demand more autonomy and control over the natural resources of their impoverished region.
    Much of the violence in the past has been blamed on separatist militants.
    Pro-Taliban militants are also active in the province which shares borders with Afghanistan and Iran.
    Pakistan, a key U.S. ally in its war on terror, has seen a wave of violence in past years, most of it in the northwest where troops are battling militants.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register