At least two people were killed and more than two dozen injured after a blast at a mosque in southwestern Pakistan during Friday prayers, officials said.
Provincial police chief Mohsin Hassan Butt said the explosion — the latest violence in a string of attacks in restive Balochistan province — was caused by a remotely detonated bomb in the town of Kuchlak.
“Two people including the prayer leader of the mosque have been killed and 25 others were wounded in an IED blast at a mosque,” he said.
A second police official, Abdul Razzaq Cheema, confirmed the incident and casualty figures at the mosque, north of provincial capital Quetta.
![Policemen stand guard as Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party activists and supporters of former Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan protest against the arrest of their leader, in Lahore on May 10, 2023. (Photo by Arif ALI / AFP) / The erroneous mention[s] appearing in the metadata of this photo by Arif ALI has been modified in AFP systems in the following manner: [May 10, 2023] instead of [May 11, 2023]. Please immediately remove the erroneous mention[s] from all your online services and delete it (them) from your servers. If you have been authorized by AFP to distribute it (them) to third parties, please ensure that the same actions are carried out by them. Failure to promptly comply with these instructions will entail liability on your part for any continued or post notification usage. Therefore we thank you very much for all your attention and prompt action. We are sorry for the inconvenience this notification may cause and remain at your disposal for any further information you may require.](https://www.afriupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/33EU3RD-preview-897x598-1-120x86.jpg "Suicide bomber kills four at Pakistan checkpoint: police 4")
There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the attack.
Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest and poorest province bordering Afghanistan and Iran, is rife with Islamist, separatist and sectarian insurgencies, even as incidents of violence have significantly dropped elsewhere in Pakistan.
Militants still retain the ability to carry out attacks, including on major urban centres and tightly-guarded targets, and analysts have long warned that Pakistan is yet to tackle the root causes of extremism.
Balochistan is key to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), part of Beijing’s Belt and Road initiative.
CPEC seeks to connect China’s western province of Xinjiang with the Pakistani port of Gwadar, giving Beijing access to the Arabian Sea.
Follow our socials Whatsapp, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Google News.
![[FILE]Barcelona’s Brazilian midfielder Philippe Coutinho runs during the Spanish ‘Copa del Rey’ (King’s cup) quarter-final second leg football match between FC Barcelona and RCD Espanyol at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona. / AFP PHOTO / LLUIS GENE](https://www.afriupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Coutinho-2-640x400.jpg "Barcelona agree to loan Coutinho to Bayern 7")