A Spanish cyclist who was attacked last week in Pakistan while attempting to bike around the world has disputed the claim that six guards died while escorting him through a violent part of the country.

"The only one hurt in the attack was me," Javier Colorado wrote on his blog and Facebook page from Delhi, India.

"Many of you have heard about what happened to me in Pakistan. I want to explain the situation right here and now, since I'm the only person who really knows what happened."

Police in Pakistan said last week that gunmen shot and killed six guards who were protecting Colorado as he cycled through the remote western province of Baluchistan. The 27-year-old, who is attempting to cycle around the world, was accused on social media of putting others in danger for the sake of adventure.

Colorado's story differs considerably from that of the police in Pakistan. "That day I was travelling [in the car] with a driver and one armed police officer." A few minutes into the ride, he said, a grenade was thrown at the vehicle, landing just a few metres away and sending shrapnel flying towards his head.

As Colorado lay bleeding on the back seat, his ears still ringing from the attack, his driver sped away as more shots were fired at their vehicle. They took him to a clinic 15km away. "I was the only one treated at the clinic, since the guard and the driver weren't injured. Luckily the shrapnel only grazed my head, it was just a superficial injury."

Colorado was put in contact with the Spanish embassy in Pakistan, who evacuated him from the region. He offered his sincere condolences to the friends and families of the six guards who were killed, but stressed that it "had nothing to do with the attack I suffered".

Aware of the dangers of cycling through Pakistan, Colorado said his original plan was to take a train from Iran, but he didn't arrive in time to catch the train as it left Zahedan.

With two days left on his Iranian visa and trains only leaving a few times a month, he decided to risk the bus into Pakistan. Minutes after crossing the border, he was brought to the police station, where he was told the safest way to travel to Quetta would be with a guard. "It was impossible to turn down the offer," he wrote. "So I accepted it. I was enormously grateful."

On his blog, Colorado repeatedly thanked Pakistan's police and military for their protection. He plans to continue his journey around the world, he said, despite the criticism. "It's sad that you only hear about what's going on in Pakistan when a westerner like me is attacked. The reality faced by citizens of that country is incredibly difficult."