Bomb kills FC soldier, wounds four in Quetta

QUETTA: At least one soldier was killed and four others wounded including a passerby when a bomb exploded at a paramilitary checkpoint in the Balochistan capital, police said on Saturday.

The bomb, planted close to the Frontier Corps (FC) checkpoint went off early Saturday when soldiers reached the site for daily duty in Quetta, senior police official Abdul Waheed Khattak told AFP.

“It was an IED (improvised explosive device) which exploded the moment soldiers reached the checkpoint,” Khattak said.

He added the blast killed one soldier and wounded four others including a teenager passing the site at the time of the explosion.

“(The) condition of another soldier is also critical,” Khattak said.

Sajjad Ahmad, a senior official from FC, confirmed the attack and casualties.

Thousands of paramilitary troops are deployed in troubled areas of the country to carry out security checks and to help police in maintaining law and order.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.