At least 11 people have been killed and 30 injured in a series of attacks in the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta, including a suicide bombing at a rally by a leading religious political party.
Maulana Fazlur Rehman, head of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) party was leaving a rally in the capital of Pakistan's restive Baluchistan province on Thursday when his car was targeted by a suicide bomber, officials said.
Abdul Razaq Cheema, the city's police chief told AFP: "It was a suicide attack. One person has been killed and more than 17 injured. Some of the injured are in critical condition."
Rehman, who leads the biggest religious party in parliament, said he believed he was the target.
"I was in a bulletproof car and that's why I survived," he said.
No group immediately has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, but Rehman and his party have been targeted by the Pakistani Taliban in the past.
Officials said Thursday's attacks could have been in response to the ongoing military operation against militant groups in North Waziristan tribal district along the Afghan border.
Earlier, gunmen opened fire on a bus carrying Shi'ite Muslims at a fruit and vegetable bazaar on the outskirts of the city, killing eight people.
Hours after the market attack, a bomb targeted a convoy of the government paramilitary Frontier Corps (FC) in Quetta, killing two passers-by and injuring 12 others.
"This bomb was planted in a motorcycle parked on the Qambrani road," Cheema said.
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