At least four people have been killed and up to a dozen others wounded after a powerful bomb exploded in the car park of a luxury hotel in Pakistan.
The explosion occurred at the five-star Serena Hotel in the city of Quetta in the South West of the country.
At this stage it is unclear who is behind the attack.
However the South-western province Baluchistan is the scene of a long-running insurgency by secessionist groups like the Baluchistan Liberation Front and the Baluchistan Liberation Army.
They have for decades staged attacks to press their demands for independence. The Pakistani Taliban also have a presence there.
Footage on Pakistani news channels showed burning cars, withpolice saying rescuers took victims to nearby hospitals and
Liaquat Shahwani, a provincial government spokesman, called the bombing an act of terrorism without elaborating. “Enemies of Pakistan are behind today’s attack,” he said.
Security forces rushed to the hotel and no one was being allowed to go near the site of the blast.
According to senior police official Azhar Akram, some of the wounded were in a critical condition.
Wasim Beg, a spokesperson at the provincial health department, said four people died and 12 were wounded in the bombing.
Arbab Kamran Kasi, a doctor at Quetta’s main hospital, said about a dozen wounded were being brought there and they declared an emergency at the hospital to handle victims.
