At least 15 injured in Mastung grenade attack: police

MASTUNG (Monitoring Desk): At least 15 people were injured in a grenade attack in Balochistan’s Mastung on Thursday, according to police.

The attack took place in main market of Mastung city this evening, when unknown miscreants lobbed a hand grenade, police said, adding that it also partially damaged four shops and two vehicles.

Rescue teams immediately rushed to the area and shifted the injured to two local hospitals.  Two of the wounded persons, said to be in precarious condition, are being shifted to Quetta.

A large contingent of police and Frontier Corps also reached the vicinity, and launched a search operation for miscreants.

Balochistan – Pakistan’s largest province in terms of land area – has long been plagued by an insurgency and sectarian killings. However in the recent years, security forces have conducted effective operations cracking down on militants across the province.

Following the beginning of Op Raddul Fasaad, security forces intensified intelligence-based and combing operations in the province in an effort to establish peace in the province.

This has led to a considerable drop in militancy in the province but scattered attacks are still reported at times. On Wednesday, eight people, including seven policemen, were martyred in provincial capital Quetta.

The attackers rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a truck carrying Elite Force personnel in New Sariab area of the city around 8:30am  on Wednesday while it was transporting them for duties. The incident left over 20 others wounded.