Child killed, 9 injured in Chaman blast

CHAMAN: A car blast killed a child and injured at least nine others in Chaman, Pakistan's bordering town with Afghanistan, on Sunday evening.

Police said that the blast killed an eight-year-old child, identified as Zabihullah, who was passing by. It was immediately not known what was the target of blast that rocked the bordering town, police said.

Police sources told Dawn that unknown miscreants had planted a bomb inside a car parked on Taj Road Chaman. The blast also destroyed two vehicles and a motorcycle.

Thick-black smoke was visible on the site of blast, Sardar Muhammad Khondai, a local journalist told Dawn.

The injured were rushed to nearby district headquarter hospital Chaman for medical treatment. Police stated the blast smashed the glasses of nearby shops and homes located in the area.

Taj Road is considered to be the commercial hub of Chaman. The attack comes a day after the police defused a bomb planted near the old customs house on the outskirts of Chaman.

Chaman is a small town in the southwestern province of Balochistan and is one of the two main crossing points for supplies for American and Nato troops fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Militants have recently intensified attacks against security forces and national installations in Balochistan, plagued by an insurgency and growing sectarian killings for more than a decade//