Karachi blast kills child, two others in Gulshan-e-Iqbal area

KARACHI: At least three people, including a woman and a child, were killed in a hand grenade blast in Karachi's Gulshan-e-Iqbal's Haji Lemo Goth on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the third fatality, as per Deputy Inspector General Police (DIG) East Captain (retd) Ghulam Azfar Mahesar, is of the suspected terrorist who was carrying a grenade.

The CCTV video of the incident shows the suspect stopping to attend to a phone call after which the hand grenade, which was in his pocket, exploded, the police said, adding that the incident is being probed from various angles.

The incident comes as the run-up to Pakistan's general elections has been marred with violence including scores of terrorist attacks targeting political parties as well as independent candidates.

Earlier in the day, at least 28 people were killed and more than 50 were wounded in two separate blasts in Balochistan's Pishin and Killa Saifullah.

At least 14 people lost their lives in the Pishin blast which targeted the office of independent candidate Asfand Yar Khan Kakar's office in the Khanozai area. The explosion was followed by another attack on the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) office in the Killa Saifullah district, killing 12 people.

Following the incidents, the provincial government announced a three-day mourning period to mourn the loss of lives in both attacks.

The provinces of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) have faced the brunt of a surge in terror incidents in recent months — which have seen electioneering activities and political figures being targeted in recent weeks.

Last month an independent candidate Rehan Zeb Khan was shot dead in KP's Bajaur district, whereas an Awami National Party (ANP) worker was killed in a gun attack in Chaman.

Before that, at least four people lost their lives after a blast targeted a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) rally in Balochistan's Sibi.

So far people belonging from National Party's (NP) Lala Abdul Rasheed, Senator Kohda Akram Dashti, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz's (PML-N) candidate for NA-258 Aslam Buledi and former member of the National Assembly and National Democratic Movement (NDM) leader Mohsin Dawar came under attack in different areas across the country.