Two children were killed and one was injured in southwestern Pakistan on Tuesday night after they mistook a hand grenade for a toy and started playing with it, a police official said.
Incident Details
The incident took place in Balochistan’s provincial capital Quetta, where two children aged eight and 12 years old found a hand grenade near the wall of a local Eid gah—a designated place for Eid prayers—in the Kechi Baig area of the city. “They found it for a toy and started playing with it which later exploded, killing two children and injuring one another,” Abid Bukhari, superintendent of police (SP) in the city’s Sariab area, told Arab News. “The injured boy was shifted to the Trauma Center for medical treatment.”
Historical Context
Dozens of children have died over the years, mostly in Pakistan’s northwestern and southwestern provinces that border Afghanistan, while playing with grenades or bombs. At least three children were killed and two wounded in Quetta in June 2021 after they played with a hand grenade.
Broader Security Situation
Balochistan has been the site of a low-lying insurgency for decades, where ethnic Baloch militants frequently attack law enforcers and citizens. These militant groups blame Pakistan’s government and military for denying locals a share in the province’s mineral wealth, a charge both deny.
