Explosion takes place near rally organised by the Ahle Sunnat Wal Jammat party in the centre of Quetta.
Islamabad, Pakistan - A suicide bomb attack near a religious rally in the Pakistani city of Quetta has killed at least seven people and wounded 25 others, according to officials.
Zia Langove, home minister of the southwestern Balochistan province, said Monday's explosion took place close to the event organised by Ahle Sunnat Wal Jammat (ASWJ), a political party allegedly linked with a sectarian armed group.
"An attacker came on a motorcycle, and he was stopped by police [near the rally]," Langove told Al Jazeera. "Then, there was an explosion."
No group has so far claimed responsibility.
Quetta police chief Abdul Razzaq Cheema told reporters the attack was being treated as a suicide bombing.
"Instead of stopping, [the attacker] attempted to continue going forward," he said. "They struggled with him, toppling him and stopping him. As he fell, he detonated himself, which killed two of our men, those who had stopped him ... and [others]."
The casualties were taken to Quetta's main government hospital, about a kilometre (0.6 miles) away from the attack site.
"We have received seven dead bodies," Waseem Baig, a hospital spokesperson, said, adding that at least eight of the wounded were in serious condition.
Witnesses corroborated the police version of events, saying the explosion appeared to take place at a police barricade near the rally in the centre of Quetta.
