ISLAMABAD, 9 September 2006 — Five people were killed and 16 wounded when a powerful bomb went off in Rakhni town in Balochistan yesterday.
State-run television PTV said the roadside bomb exploded when a pickup truck ran over it. Another report said the bomb was planted near a hospital.
Police sources in Rakhni, situated about 300 kilometers north of Quetta, said the injured were taken to a hospital in Dera Ghazi Khan in bordering Punjab province. Four among the injured were said to be in serious condition.
PTV also reported that 21 passengers were injured when several coaches of a passenger train derailed in Balochistan province.
Area police chief Hafiz Inayatullah blamed supporters of Akbar Bugti, but offered no evidence to back up his claim. “Everyone knows that the supporters of Nawab Akbar Bugti are behind the attack,” he told the Associated Press by telephone.
Shortly after the blast, residents blocked a main road by burning old tires and erecting barricades to protest the blast, he said, adding that they had been asked to disperse peacefully.
In Loralai, a police party raided a house that resulted in the killing of one deputy superintendent of police, who was leading the raid.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani government yesterday agreed to a demand for DNA test to confirm the identity of Akbar Bugti killed in a military operation two weeks ago and buried quietly.
“We welcome the request (for DNA test) and offer every assistance. Earlier too we had offered his family to join our efforts to retrieve the body and the funeral to identify him,” Information Minister Mohammad Ali Durrani told journalists yesterday.
