Two people of the highly persecuted Shia Hazara community were killed in an explosion in Balochistan’s Ziarat district on Friday, Levies sources said. At least seven other Shia Hazaras were injured when the blast targeting their vehicle took place in Kawas area of Ziarat.

The deceased belonged to the Hazara community of Quetta and were part of a group that was visiting Ziarat for sightseeing, Levies sources told DawnNewsTV. The injured were rushed to a hospital in Quetta immediately after the incident.

Quoting initial investigation, sources said the nature of the blast could not be immediately confirmed. It was also not clear whether the bomb was planted inside the vehicle or on the roadside.

Earlier, a second explosion in a vehicle earlier in the day left three tourists from Karachi dead in Ziarat. Two others sustained injuries in the incident. The deceased were tourists from Karachi who were in Ziarat to spend their Eid holidays, Ziarat Assistant Commissioner Maj Kabeer Zarqoon said.

An official of the counter-terrorism department who declined to be named stated that agencies were investigating the incident to determine the exact nature of the blast.