QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) — A bomb exploded near a police van in southwestern Pakistan on Wednesday, killing an officer and two other people and wounding 27, mostly passers-by, police said.

The attack took place in Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province, on the Fatima Jinnah Road that runs through a bazaar, according to Fida Hussain, a senior police officer. He identified the slain officer as Ajmal Sadozai.

One of the wounded was in critical condition, he added. Several shops at the bazaar caught fire after the bombing.

Hussain said the police van appears to have been the target of the attack. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing but previous such attacks have been blamed on the Pakistani Taliban and various militant and insurgent groups.

Baluchistan has been the scene of a long-running insurgency by Baluch secessionist groups that for decades have staged bombings and shooting attacks on civilians and security forces to press their demands for independence.

The Pakistani Taliban and the Islamic State group also have a presence in Baluchistan. Islamabad insists that Pakistani forces have quelled the insurgency in Baluchistan but violence has continued there.

Source : https://apnews.com/article/pakistan-bombings-taliban-ebffc1d736311a85b26610b4be167cee