Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif says the perpetrators of the attack “should be identified and given exemplary punishment.”
A bomb blast near a police office in southwestern Pakistan has killed at least two children and wounded 16 people, officials said.
Seven policemen were among those injured when a remote-controlled bomb attached to a motorcycle detonated in the Pishin district on Saturday, a local police official told Reuters news agency.
“Explosives were planted on a motorcycle, which was parked in the area,” said police officer Mujeeb-Ur-Rehman, adding that the two boys were passing by the area when the blast occurred.
Provincial government spokesman Shahid Rind said “terrorists are targeting innocent and sinless people to achieve their nefarious objectives,” according to Pakistani daily Dawn News.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far, but Pakistan's Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) and Bomb Disposal Squad have been deployed in the region where the attack took place, Dawn News reported.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has expressed “deep grief and sadness” for the victims of the attack.
“Those responsible for the incident must be identified and given exemplary punishment,” he said in a statement.
Pakistan has witnessed an increase in attacks by armed groups in recent years.
Gunmen opened fire on a school bus in Punjab on Thursday, killing two children and wounding six people, police said.
In February, two bomb blasts, including one in Pishin, killed 28 people ahead of elections in Pakistan. The Islamic State group (ISIS) claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Pakistan’s government has been struggling for decades to control armed groups operating in several provinces across the country. Some are criminal organisations, while others, such as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), also known as the Pakistan Taliban, aim to overthrow the government.
