A wave of grenade attacks at two small businesses and a private school left five dead and 12 others injured in Pakistan's troubled Baluchistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces today, officials said.
In the first incident, three persons were killed and around nine injured when militants lobbed grenades at two barber shops on the Double Road area of the Quetta city, the capital of Baluchistan.
"It appears the attackers came on motorcycles and threw two hand grenades at these two shops which were packed with customers," a senior police official said.
"The attackers appeared to target the settlers who owned the barber shops," Muhammad Aslam said.
The shop owners were believed to be from the Punjab province.
The incident was followed by firing in the area which led to more panic and fear among the people.
The injured persons were rushed to Civil Hospital Quetta for medical treatment where an emergency was imposed.
The blast also damaged some vehicles and smashed the glasses of nearby homes and shops.
An hour later, attackers again threw a hand grenade at a photographer's shop on Saryab road in the city, which killed one person and injured two others.
Police said the shop was damaged during the blast that rocked the entire Saryab road area of Quetta.
Settlers from other provinces have been targeted by Baluch insurgents in the last few years in various parts of the Baluchistan province which has also been rocked by sectarian killings and terrorist attacks.
In the final incident, unidentified militants hurled two grenades at a private school in the restive northwestern town of Charsadda, killing a female teacher and wounding a girl.
A senior police officer, Shafiullah Khan, said the attack happened at the end of the school day when teachers were sitting in the staffroom.
"One female teacher was killed and a girl student was wounded," he said.
Militant groups are particularly opposed to girls' education in the northwest, where they have bombed hundreds of schools in recent years.
