Blast outside polio centre kills 15 in Pakistan's Quetta

Quetta: At least 15 people were killed in a blast targeting police outside a polio vaccination centre in Quetta’s Satellite Town on Wednesday, of which most were police officials.

“There are 15 dead, including 12 police, one paramilitary, and two civilians,” a local police official told AFP, adding that at least 10 people had been wounded, nine of whom were police and one a civilian.

Initial reports revealed that the attack was conducted to target a security forces convoy on a roadside near the polio centre and was carried out using a times device.

Of the 15 killed, 12 were part of the police force, one from the frontier corps and another a civilian.

Rescue teams have reached the site of the incident and the injured are being shifted to a nearby hospital, where two are said to be in critical condition.

Meanwhile, police and security officials have cordoned off the area and investigation is underway. The nature of the blast however, has not yet been ascertained.

Such attacks on security forces are not rare in the region. Two police personnel were shot dead on January 8 when unidentified armed men opened fire at them outside a mosque in Multani Muhala.