<\/p>\n
Injured victims of bomb explosion are treated at a hospital, in Mastung near Quetta, Pakistan, on Friday.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>District Police Office\/AP<\/cite><\/p>\n No group has claimed responsibility for the Friday blast, which comes amid a surge in attacks claimed by militant groups in the west of the country, raising the stakes for security forces ahead of national elections scheduled for January next year.<\/p>\n \u201cThe bomber detonated himself near the vehicle of the deputy superintendent of Police,\u201d Deputy Inspector General of Police Munir Ahmed said, adding the blast took place near a mosque where people were gathering for a procession to mark Mohammad\u2019s birthday, a public holiday.<\/p>\n A boy injured in a bomb explosion receives treatment at a hospital, in Mastung near Quetta.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>District Police Office\/AP<\/cite><\/p>\n The Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan, an umbrella group of various hardline Sunni Islamist groups, denied it had carried out the attack.<\/p>\n The casualties were being treated at hospitals in the nearby town of Mastung. Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti called the blast was a \u201cvery heinous act\u201d.<\/p>\n In July, more than 40 people were killed in a suicide bombing in north-western Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province at a religious political party\u2019s gathering.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n