Eight killed on Independence Day: Officials

QUETTA: Bomb, gun and rocket attacks killed eight in flashpoints on Sunday as the country celebrated Independence Day, officials said.

Four civilians were killed and 15 wounded when a bomb exploded at a roadside restaurant in the town of Dera Allah Yar, police said.

Local police station Chief Isa Khan Khoso told AFP that many people were trapped under debris after the roof collapsed in the wake of the blast.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, which came as Pakistan celebrated the 65th anniversary of independence.

Elsewhere in the province, gunmen on motorcycles shot dead a local journalist in the town of Khuzdar, police said.

"Gunmen on a motorbike shot dead journalist Munir Noor when he was returning to home after shopping at a nearby market," local police station chief Abdul Qadir Sheikh told AFP from the area.

In Miranshah, at least three paramilitary soldiers were killed and 25 wounded when militants fired a rocket into their camp as they prepared for an Independence Day assembly.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011