Two Dead in a University Bus Bomb in Pakistan
A car bomb exploded near a university bus Monday killing two students and wounding over 25 other people, most of them students, in Pakistan's insurgency-torn southwest, police said.
The attack took place on the outskirts of Quetta, the capital of the oil and gas rich Baluchistan province that borders Afghanistan and Iran.
"An improvised-explosive device planted underneath a car parked on the roadside exploded near the bus of the local IT university, killing two students and wounding 25 others, mostly students," said local police official, Muhammad Anwar.
"It was not immediately clear if the bus was the target but we are investigating," he added.
Another local police official, Akbar Shawani, confirmed the casualties. He said that the bus was taking the students to their university.
There was no claim of responsibility for the attack, but Baluchistan suffers from Islamist militancy, sectarian violence between Sunni and Shiite Muslims and a separatist insurgency.
Baluch rebels rose up in the province in 2004, demanding political autonomy and a greater share of profits from oil, gas and mineral resources in the region.
It is one of the most deprived regions of Pakistan despite its wealth in resources, and human rights activists have accused the military of mass arrests and extra-judicial executions in its bid to put down the separatist insurgency.
Earlier this month, U.N. human rights chief Navi Pillay voiced concern over allegations of "very grave" rights violations during Pakistani military operations.
Source: Agence France Presse
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