KFC blast kills three in Pakistan

A POWERFUL car bomb exploded outside a KFC restaurant in southern Pakistan yesterday, setting off a massive fireball that overturned cars and shattered steel and glass. Three people were killed and 22 injured.

An ethnic Baluch nationalist group from southwestern Pakistan claimed responsibility. A spokesman denied the group targeted civilians, saying it tried to hit the offices of a state-owned oil and gas company above the KFC.

Chakar Azam of the Baluchistan Liberation Army said: “We did it to protest, and we did it to pressure the government to get our rights.”

The blast struck at about 8.45am, as commuters were heading to shops and offices in downtown Karachi, Pakistan’s business hub.

Karachi’s police chief, Mushtaq Shah said the bomb was concealed in a car parked outside the restaurant. Doctors said two men died on the spot and a third died at a hospital.

Police explosives expert Mohammed Iqbal said the bomb was made from 11 pounds of homemade explosives and detonated by a timer. The blast left a six-foot crater. Officers initially said the restaurant, part of the American fast food chain, was the target.

Manzoor Mughal, a senior police investigator, said the blast also damaged the offices of three Pakistani banks. One foreigner of unknown nationality was among the injured, but was released from a hospital after being treated, he said.

Mr Azam said the BLA targeted state-owned Pakistan Petroleum Limited, which had offices above the KFC restaurant. The BLA demands more government aid to Baluchistan, where Pakistan’s main natural gas fields are located.

It was the first time the group has claimed responsibility for an attack outside Baluchistan province. The claim is being investigated.

Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city and a centre of Islamic militancy, has been the target of a number of bombings in recent months that have killed more than a dozen people. Police said they had tightened security in the city and were searching for clues about those behind the attack, including from security cameras installed near the bomb site.