(MENAFN- The Peninsula) AA
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: More than 35 people were killed and around 85 others sustained injuries in suicide attacks in Pakistan's southwestern province and northwestern region Friday, officials said.
The first incident took place outside Balochistan's provincial police chief's office in the capital Quetta, where a militant rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into a security check post, killing at least 13 people and injuring 14 others, a police official said.
Abdul Razzaq Cheema, Deputy Inspector General of Police, said that it was a suicide attack which also damaged nearby buildings and was heard across the city.
No militant group has yet claimed responsibility but similar attacks in Balochistan have been claimed by Pakistani Taliban sprinter group Jammat ul Ahrar and Lashkar-e-Jehngwi al-Alami, an ally of IS in Afghanistan.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Interior Minister Chaudhery Nisar Ali Khan condemned the attack, saying terrorists who carried out such barbaric attacks in the holy month of Ramadan were not Muslim.
Balochistan province has witnessed dozens of terrorist attacks during recent months, targeting security personnel and civilians in roadside explosions and assassinations.
The mineral-rich southwestern province is a strategically important area of Pakistan. It is a gateway for the multi-billion dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project, considered to be of major significance for the region.
CPEC will connect China's Xinjiang province with Pakistan's Gawadar port in Balochistan.
- Parachinar blasts
Later, twin suicide blasts occurred in Parachinar city -- the capital of northwestern Kurram Agency -- that killed at least 25 people and injured 70 others, local political agent Basser Khan Wazir said.
The first explosion took place in the city's busiest Turi market, where local residents were engaged in shopping for upcoming Muslim Eid festival, Wazir said, adding the other blast took place at the same spot shortly after the rescue operation was in progress.
"Both were the suicide blasts in which 25 people have lost their lives while more than 70 others were wounded, but the death toll could rise as many injured are in critical condition," he said.
Emergency has been declared in the hospitals and all injured were shifted to the agency's headquarters hospital.
In a statement, Pakistan army condemned the deadly attack and said two army aviation helicopters have taken off from Peshawar to Parachinar for speedy evacuation of injured to Peshawar.
The statement read that security forces have cordoned off the area and rescue operation was in progress.
Local administration of Kurram Agency believes the terrorists were planted to target Al-Quds rally in Parachinar city -- the only Shia-dominated tribal area -- but failed due to heightened security.
On March 31, a suicide bomber targeted civilians in the same city, killing at least 23 people and wounding 80 others in the attack.
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