A bomb blast kills 1 person and wounds 14 in Pakistan’s southwest

QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) — A police official says a bomb blast has killed one person and wounded 14 in Pakistan’s southwest, including three soldiers. The blast occurred Saturday in Hernai district, which is northeast of Quetta city in Baluchistan province. The Hernai deputy commissioner said the IED exploded when a team from Mari Petroleum Company was conducting a gas exploration survey. Nobody immediately claimed responsibility. For years, Baluchistan has been the scene of a low-level insurgency by groups demanding independence from the central government in Islamabad. Although the government says it has quelled the insurgency, violence in the province has persisted.