Three people were killed in an explosion intended for Pakistani President Mamnoon Hussain's son Suleman Mamnoon Hussain in the southwest province of Baluchistan. The assassination attempt was made by Baluch separatists, targeting a convoy carrying the leader's son late on Sunday night, said police officials.
The explosive was placed on a motorcycle and detonated using a remote control, according to The Times of India. The bomb blasted in Baluchistan's industrial district as a convoy carrying Hussain passed by. The casualties reported and a majority of those injured in the blast were mostly pedestrians. Some police officers, who were escorting Hussain, were among those wounded, a police official said in a statement to the AFP.
The official further said that Hussain was unharmed because his vehicle had already passed the location where the explosive detonated, damaging a nearby rickshaw and the final vehicle of the convoy. The driver of the rickshaw, a 12-year old child, and a bystander, died immediately, while four police officials of Hussain's security team suffered minor injuries, he added.
Zahid Ullah, a senior police official, confirmed that the president's son was the intended target of the explosion, according to The Times of India.
Meerak Baluch, a representative of the Baluch Liberation Army (BLA), has claimed responsibility for the bomb blast over a telephonic conversation with AFP. "We claim responsibility for the attack, it was in response to the military operation carried out in various areas of Baluchistan," he said, Newsweek reports.
Pakistan's President Mamnoon Hussain succeeded Asif Ali Zardari in September 2013.
