PAKISTAN: A powerful bomb exploded near an army truck in the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta yesterday, killing at least 10 people and injuring more than 20, officials said.
The bomb, weighing at least 4kg, had been attached to a bicycle, officials said.
The blast in the centre of the city wrecked the army truck and at least eight other vehicles. At least 10 shops in a business district were also damaged, witnesses said.
Human body parts and blood were splattered around the busy square, which was sealed off by the security forces.
"It was a mighty explosion," said Abdullah, a witness who gave only one name. "I saw people screaming and running and the dead and the wounded strewn on the road."
Several victims were killed on the spot, and others died in hospital, doctors said.
Mr Naeemullah Khan said his father, a shopkeeper, was killed in the blast. "He was badly wounded and was covered with blood. I rushed him to hospital, but doctors couldn't save his life."
Information Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed denounced what he called "a heinous act of terrorism" and said the people responsible would not go unpunished.
The blast occurred a day after President Pervez Musharraf returned from a trip to Latin America, the US, England and France.
He had said during the trip that Pakistani forces had smashed the command structure of the al-Qaeda militant group within the country.