11 killed in Pakistan bus blast

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan

At least 11 people were killed in bomb blast Monday that hit a bus in Quetta, central Pakistan, officials said.

Initial reports said the device was planted on the roof of an evening service carrying more than 40 passengers and detonated with a timer, city police chief Imtiaz Shah told reporters.

Most of the dead and 23 injured were travelling on the roof when the bomb exploded.

TV footage showed rescue workers moving the wounded from the badly burned bus to ambulances. Human remains and blood-soaked clothing was strewn around the vehicle while the windows and doors of nearby buildings were shattered in the blast.

The Baluchistan provincial government declared an emergency.

No group claimed immediate responsibility for the attack but Baluch separatists and sectarian militants operate in the province, which has experienced six decades of violence.

The province, particularly capital Quetta, has also faced a deadly wave of sectarian violence for the past 10 years. More than 2,000 people - mostly minority Shia Muslims - have been killed in attacks.

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan

At least 11 people were killed in bomb blast Monday that hit a bus in Quetta, central Pakistan, officials said.

Initial reports said the device was planted on the roof of an evening service carrying more than 40 passengers and detonated with a timer, city police chief Imtiaz Shah told reporters.

Most of the dead and 23 injured were travelling on the roof when the bomb exploded.

The Baluchistan provincial government declared an emergency.

No group claimed immediate responsibility for the attack but Baluch separatists and sectarian militants operate in the province, which has experienced six decades of violence.