The death toll from a powerful explosion near Quetta’s Model Town rose to 10 on Tuesday, with at least 33 others injured, officials said.
Provincial Health Minister Bakht Muhammad Kakar confirmed the updated figures, saying hospitals had been placed on high alert.
Police said the blast occurred near the corner of a security forces headquarters. Among the dead was a member of Pakistan’s security forces.
Security officials said four attackers were behind the vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED). All of them were killed by security forces after the blast. “They were trying to enter the security facility,” one official said, adding that more details were awaited.
Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Special Operations Quetta Muhammad Baloch said the explosion occurred as an explosive-laden vehicle turned from Model Town toward Hali Road, near the Frontier Constabulary (FC) headquarters.
The explosion left a five-foot-deep crater at the site, shattering windows of nearby buildings. A bus, a rickshaw, and at least six motorcycles were damaged in the blast.
Eyewitnesses reported hearing gunfire immediately after the explosion.
Rescue teams shifted the injured to Quetta’s Civil Hospital and Trauma Center, where a state of emergency was declared to cope with the influx of patients.
Closed-circuit television footage from Hali Road showed flames rising moments after the blast, while several vehicles were caught in the explosion.
Security forces cordoned off the area and launched an investigation into the attack.
Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province, has frequently been targeted in militant and separatist violence, though authorities did not immediately provide details about Tuesday’s explosion.
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