Bomb blast kills 6 people at pro-Palestinian rally in Pakistan near Afghan border

A bomb blast on Friday killed six people at a pro-Palestinian rally in Southwest Pakistan, police said.

The bomb, which was attached to a motorcycle, targeted the vehicle of the leader of the hardline religious party that had organized the event, local police chief Jafar Khan told Reuters by phone.

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It exploded as people were dispersing at the end of the rally in Chaman city near the Afghan border, he said.

Thousands of people rallied in support of the Palestinians across Pakistan on Friday, hours after a ceasefire was announced between Israel and Hamas, the Islamist group which governs the Gaza Strip.

Friday’s blast comes just weeks after a suicide bombing in the provincial capital of Quetta struck a luxury hotel where the Chinese ambassador was being hosted.

That attack was later claimed by the Pakistani Taliban.

Chaman has long served as a gateway for Afghan Taliban militants entering Afghanistan from their alleged shelters in Balochistan, where the group's leadership council is believed to be based.

Pakistan is fighting several low-level insurgencies in the impoverished province, waged by Islamist, separatist and sectarian groups.

Balochistan is Pakistan’s largest and poorest province despite being rich in natural resources.

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