BEIJING, September 3. /TASS/. At least 13 people were killed and another 31 injured in a suicide attack in the city of Quetta, the capital of Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan Province, the Xinhua news agency reported.
According to the media outlet, the terrorist attack occurred at a parking lot near a local stadium after a crowded rally had been held by the Balochistan National Party. Police said that the attack was aimed at one of the party leaders.
Many of the injured were taken to the hospital in critical condition and doctors don’t rule out the possibility that the death toll could rise.
The situation in Balochistan, which borders Iran and Afghanistan, has been tense since late 2021 due to a rise in the activities of nationalist and separatist groups opposing the Pakistani government’s measures to reinforce centralization. Their activities pose a security threat to Gwadar Port located in Balochistan, considered to be one of the key facilities of China’s Belt and Road global initiative, as well as to other infrastructure projects being built in Pakistan with China’s assistance.