Quetta, Pakistan CNN –
At least 30 people were killed and dozens more injured after an explosion rocked a religious procession in Pakistan’s restive Balochistan province on Friday in what authorities described as a suicide attack.
The explosion occurred in Mastung district in the southwestern province as people gathered to celebrate the Prophet Mohammed’s birthday, provincial information minister Jan Achakzai told CNN.
In Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest province in terms of area, there have been insurgencies for decades by separatists demanding independence from the country, citing the state monopoly and the exploitation of the region’s natural resources.
Mastung Deputy Commissioner Atta Ul Munim confirmed to CNN that the explosion was a suicide attack and 40 people were injured. There is no claim of responsibility for the explosion.
He claimed that a senior police officer who was killed in the blast was the target of the attack.
The seriously injured were shifted to hospitals in Quetta, the provincial capital, while others were being treated at a local hospital in Mastung, he said.
Achakzai said the bodies of the victims had also been taken to a hospital, but he expected the number of victims to rise.
Pakistan’s caretaker Prime Minister Anwar-ul-Haq Kakar strongly condemned the blast in a statement.
“The Prime Minister expressed his condolences to the families of those who died in the explosion,” his office said in a statement. “The Prime Minister’s prayers for forgiveness for the deceased and patience for the families.”
Police in Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city about 600 kilometers (370 miles) from Mastung, were ordered to tighten security and remain on “high alert” after the explosion, an inspector general statement said.
There has been a spate of attacks in Balochistan in recent months.
An attack on Chinese engineers in Balochistan was foiled by the Pakistani military last month, leaving two militants dead and the Chinese workers unharmed, according to police.
In March this year, at least nine police officers were killed and 11 others injured in a suspected suicide explosion.
This is a developing story. There’s more to come.