6 injured in blast outside CD shops in Quetta

ISLAMABAD: Six persons were injured, two of them seriously, in an explosion in a busy commercial area in the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta on Sunday, police said.

The low-intensity blast was caused by an explosive device planted in a garbage can outside a market housing several shops selling CDs in Natha Singh Street.

The street is one of the busiest commercial areas of Quetta and was packed with shoppers ahead of the Eid festival that marks the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramzan.

Police officials said the six persons injured in the blast were rushed to nearby hospitals. Policemen cordoned off the site of the blast, which was heard from several kilometres away.

Militants had recently warned owners of the CD shops to close their establishments or face the consequences. This was the first time that bomb blasts have targeted CD shops in southwestern Balochistan province.

A series of blasts targeting CD shops occurred in North West Frontier Province since last year.

The bomb attack was followed by a gas cylinder explosion in another market that caused panic among shoppers. The city's markets wore a deserted look after the explosions.