Two Pakistani Policemen Killed In Attacks Claimed by Baluch Liberation Army

Security officials inspects the site of a bomb explosion in Quetta on August 8.

Two Pakistani policemen were killed and eight others injured on August 8 in a blast in Quetta, the capital of the country's southwestern Balochistan Province.

Balochistan government spokesman Liaqat Shahwani said in a statement that the bomb was planted on a parked motorcycle and exploded as a van in which the two policemen were riding passed by.

The blast occurred near the city's high-security Serena Hotel. Several pedestrians also suffered injuries.

In a separate incident, unidentified attackers lobbed a hand grenade at a stall selling Pakistani flags ahead of the country's upcoming independence day on August 14. The stall owner was injured in the attack.

The separatist Baluch Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility for the two attacks.

In a statement circulated to local media in an e-mail, a purported BLA spokesman warned of more attacks related to the country's independence day celebrations.

The volatile Balochistan Province shares a border with Afghanistan and Iran and is believed to be where the senior leadership of the Taliban, which has taken control of swathes of Afghanistan in recent months, is based.

Based on reporting by RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal and dpa