'Inhumane': Bomb blast in Pakistan's Balochistan kills several children

A bomb targeting police guarding polio vaccinators in Pakistan killed seven people, including five children on Friday, police said, as the country battles a resurgence of the virus.

The incident, which also injured 17 others, took place in the Mastung district of the southwestern Balochistan province, police said on Friday.

“So far, seven individuals have been martyred, including five school students, and 17 others have sustained injuries,” Kalat Division Commissioner Naeem Bazai told the local daily Dawn.

The children were aged between 5 and 10.

An explosive, placed on a motorcycle, was detonated remotely near a police van at the Civil Hospital Chowk, the daily noted.

The bomb targeted police officers as they were travelling in a van to guard medical workers participating in a nationwide polio vaccine campaign, another police official told AFP.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the blast.

Expressing displeasure over the incident, Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti said it was “inhumane.”

“We will avenge the murder of innocent children and people,” the minister said, adding:

“The monster of terrorism can only be fought together."

Pakistan and neighbouring Afghanistan are the only countries where polio remains endemic and vaccination teams are frequently targeted by armed groups waging a campaign against security forces.