QUETTA - A bomb blast killed at least five people and injured 30 others in a Quetta market Friday.
The improvised explosive device was fitted in a bicycle parked in a shopping area on the city's Airport Road.
"The device weighing six kilograms went off with a big bang killing at least three people and wounding 32 others, including two women and four children," senior local police official Chaudhry Manzoor told AFP.
He said there did not appear to be a target, adding: "The purpose was to trigger panic and terror."
Another senior police official confirmed the incident and casualties.
Later, two injured succumbed to their injuries at a hospital.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility but Balochistan is home to a separatist insurgency that has been raging since 2004.
The province's roughly seven million people have long complained they do not receive a fair share of its gas and mineral wealth.
Separatist militant groups routinely target security forces and government installations.
The province borders Iran and Afghanistan and has been the target of Taliban and sectarian attacks.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif strongly condemned the blast that took place in Quetta in which several precious lives were lost.
According to a PM House statement issued in Islamabad, the prime minister prayed for forgiveness of the departed souls and commiserated with the bereaved families.
He directed the authorities concerned to provide special medical care to the injured. He said such cowardly acts of terrorism could not deter their resolve to root out terrorism from the country.
The prime minister said the sacrifices of people would not go in vain and even the last terrorist would be eliminated from the motherland.
THREE BODIES FOUND IN KECH TURBAT
The police found three bodies in Balnagora area of Kech Turbat district, on Friday. Unknown men after killing three people had thrown their bodies in Balnagora area.
The police said that the local people informed them about presence of three bodies in Bal Nagora area. "A police party reached the site and shifted the bodies to hospital where the dead were identified as Ghulam Rasool, Muhammad Aslam and Abdul Waheed," they said.
The police further said that unknown men after the killing the three persons had dumped their bodies in Balnagora area. The police have been investigating the incident.
Separately, security forces destroyed five hideouts of miscreants during intelligence-based operations in different areas of Balochistan’s Dera Bugti district on Friday.
According to security sources, explosives and other belongings of the miscreants were also destroyed during the operation.
Sources told that heavy weapons including two rifles, two Russian rockets, three walkie-talkies, bullets and 40 kilograms of explosives were also recovered in Toba Nohaqqani area.