Pakistan: 5 injured in explosion near Quetta

At least five people were injured in an explosion near Pakistan’s Quetta Police Lines area on Sunday, the Dawn newspaper reported citing rescue officials. Edhi worker Zeeshan Ahmed, who was leading the rescue operations on the site, said the injured were moved to the Civil Hospital in Quetta. Ahmed informed that police and emergency teams have arrived at the spot and the area has been cordoned off. Police haven’t issued any statement and the nature of the blast is not clear at the moment, the Dawn reported. Further, according to the report, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack. The group claimed that security officials were targeted in the blast, the Dawn reported. Meanwhile, the restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police on Wednesday staged a protest against the rising incidents terrorism in the province. The local police force staged a protest in front of the Peshawar Press Club. It was the first such protest by the police in the history of the province. Videos shared on social media showed groups of police officers raising slogans against rising terrorist incidents. On January 30, a suicide bomber blew himself up in Peshawar’s Police Lines mosque, a heavily guarded facility at about 1 pm during Zohr prayers, resulting in a portion of the roof to cave in on devotees offering prayers at the time. The death toll from the blast rose to 100 as the rescue operation to retrieve bodies from the debris of the mosque concluded on Tuesday, Geo News reported. The count of the injured from the deadly suicide blast reached at least 221. According to Mohammad Asim, the spokesperson for the primary medical facility, Lady Reading Hospital Peshawar, approximately 100 bodies were taken to the facility and 53 patients were being treated, reported Geo News. KP’s caretaker CM revealed that an inquiry committee has been constituted to identify those responsible for the attack. Geo News reported, citing Rescue 1122’s spokesperson, that the rescue operat