Roadside bomb injures several people in southern Pakistan

At least one paramilitary soldier was killed and 11 people were injured when a remote-controlled bomb exploded in Pakistan's southern Karachi city.

The attack happened in the Orangi neighbourhood of the port city of Karachi. Eight civilians and three of the rangers were wounded, according to police and the country's Edhi ambulance service.

"(The) initial investigation suggests an explosive-rigged motorcycle was used in the blast," senior police officer Suhai Aziz said, adding that the device was detonated through remote control.

Aziz added that the attack targeted the Rangers paramilitary force.

The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), recognised as terror group by Pakistan and the US, claimed responsibility for the blast.

The outfit has been targeting security forces, civilians as well as infrastructure in southwestern province of Balochistan.

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Last June, the BLA took responsibility for an attack on the Pakistan Stock Exchange, also in the city of Karachi, where four militants armed with guns and grenades killed two guards and a policemen before security forces killed them.

In 2018, three BLA militants attacked the Chinese consulate in the city, killing four people before being killed themselves.

The group has allied itself in the past with the Sindhudesh Revolutionary Army, another separatist outfit active in Sindh province, of which Karachi is the largest city. 

That group killed four people, including two soldiers, in blasts in June 2020, and injured 30 people at a rally against Indian control of Kashmir in August that year.

Pakistan routinely accuses neighbouring India of supporting Baloch separatist groups as well as the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan militia. New Delhi denies the accusations.

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