A bomb ripped through a sweet shop in Kalat, 150km south of Balochistan capital, on Tuesday killing three people and wounding seven others, police said. The bomb had been planted inside the shop in the main market, police chief Chaudhry Yaqoob told AFP. "Three people including the sweet merchant were killed in the explosion and seven others were injured," Yaqoob said. It was not immediately clear who was behind the blast.
The explosion occurred at about 11.30 a.m., provincial home secretary Abdul Rauf told Reuters by telephone.
"There was an explosion in the main bazaar in which three men were killed," said Rauf. "We are investigating the cause."
Balochistan is plagued by tensions between the government and ethnic groups who accuse Islamabad of neglecting their social and economic rights. They are also angry about the government's planned extension of military garrisons in the mineral-rich province.