Bomb explosion outside shop in Pakistan: 8 injured

A bomb concealed in a plastic bag exploded outside a shop in the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta on Wednesday, wounding eight people, including women and children, police and a doctor said.

Photo: Bomb explosion outside shop in Pakistan: 8 injured

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack in Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province. Local police chief Wazir Nasir said the wounded were taken to a government hospital.

"It was a homemade bomb, but we don't know who had planted it and what was the motive," Nasir said without providing further details.

A Bolan Hospital doctor, Akhtar Mohammed, said eight people were injured, including two women and three children, but all were in a stable condition.

Sparsely populated Baluchistan has in recent years been the scene of scores of bomb, rocket and land mine attacks, most blamed on renegade tribesmen demanding increased royalties for resources, such as natural gas, extracted in their territories.

Tribesmen are also opposed to setting up new military garrisons in the province, which the government has said are needed to enhance security for gas facilities and staff working there, reports the AP.

I.L.