Several injured as blast hits passenger train in Balochistan

ISLAMABAD: Several people were injured when an explosion hit a passenger train in Balochistan on Tuesday afternoon, local media and railway officials said.

The incident happened a few minutes after the train left the provincial capital of Quetta, an official with the media cell of the Pakistan Railways told Xinhua on condition of anonymity as they were still gathering details of the blast to compile the initial report.

He said that four compartments and the engine of the train derailed as the result of the explosion.

“A bomb was fixed near the track and it went off as soon as the train passed by it,” he added.

According to local media reports, the incident left several people injured who have been shifted to a hospital in Quetta.

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Earlier, a policeman and two armed robbers were killed while four others including two policemen injured during an exchange of fire between police and culprits in the country’s capital city of Islamabad late Monday night, police sources said.

The incident occurred when a police team during a routine snap checking signalled two people riding on a motorcycle to stop, but one of the motorcycle riders pulled out a pistol and opened fire on the police, international media reported.

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As a result, one policeman was killed while another two were injured. The police returned fire, killing the two culprits on the spot, the sources added.

Following the incident, police and rescue teams reached the site and shifted the injured to a nearby hospital in the city. An investigation has been launched into the incident.

Meanwhile, in Karachi police claimed to have killed four suspects and booked five others in wounded conditions during five separate shootouts overnight.