Explosion in Quetta halts PSL exhibition match; Babar Azam, Shahid Afridi moved to safety

An exhibition match of the Pakistan Super League at the Nawab Akbar Bugti Stadium in Quetta was halted on Sunday after an explosion near the venue. Participating players such as Babar Azam and Shahid Afridi were taken to safety of the dressing room after the terror attack.

The explosion happened in the Police Lines area and left five people injured. The match was later resumed after security officials completed rescue work at the side and the injured were taken to hospital.

The outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement on Sunday. It stated that the security officials were targeted in the blast.

The exhibition match between PSL sides Quetta Gladiators and Peshawar Zalmi was organised by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) after pressure from Baloch fans that Quetta also get the status of a PSL venue.

"As soon as the explosion happened, as a precautionary measure, the match was stopped and players taken to the dressing room for a while. Later, after the green signal, the match resumed," the police official said.

The ground was packed for the match.

Sports activity in Quetta, the capital of the restive Balochistan province, has come to a standstill for the last several years due to fragile security situation and the constant threat of terror attacks.

It is not clear what was the nature of the explosion.

The TTP has stepped up terror attacks in recent days. Last week, 80 people were killed and scores injured in a suicide attack in the police lines in Peshawar.

With inputs from PTI