At least three killed in suicide bombing in Pakistan, near Afghan border: Police

At least three paramilitary guards were killed Sunday when a suicide bomber on a motorbike blew himself up in Quetta, southwestern Pakistan, police said.

The bomber targeted Frontier Constabulary guards in the Mian Ghundi neighbourhood of the city – close to the Afghanistan border – where Hazara Shia merchants were trading vegetables.

Azhar Akram, a deputy inspector general of police, told AFP that 20 people were injured in the blast, including civilians.
A spokesman for the police’s Counter-Terrorism Department confirmed the toll.

Shia Muslims have been frequently targeted in restive Balochistan by radical Sunni extremist groups, who consider them a heretical sect.

Frontier guards have also been targeted by Baloch insurgents, who have been waging a simmering insurgency for greater autonomy.