Bomb kills 5 at Pakistani religious school

Time: 2016-09-13

QUETTA, Pakistan - A bomb exploded Friday at a religious school that police said was affiliated with a pro-Taliban political party, killing five people and wounding 10 more.

Television footage showed a gaping hole in the rough mud wall around the seminary near the southwestern city of Quetta and one partly demolished adjacent room.

Police said the blast occurred in the wrecked room but didn\'t indicate if it was an attack or if the bomb had been kept there. One witness claimed it was caused by a suicide bomber.

Quetta, the intrigue-filled capital of Baluchistan province, has a rich cast of violent groups.

The city is considered a hub for Taliban militants fighting in neighboring Afghanistan. It has a history of sectarian violence. The province is also the scene of a low-level insurgency waged by ethnic Baluch nationalists seeking more autonomy.

He said the school was run by Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, a hard-line Islamist party that is part of Pakistan\'s ruling coalition government, and had not been registered with authorities.

However, a local party leader denied any knowledge of the seminary and suggested the incident was staged to discredit religious schools