ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Interior Sheikh Rashid on Thursday said that external elements are trying to destabilize Pakistan internally.

Addressing a press conference in federal capital, Sheikh Rashid strongly condemned the Quetta blast which claimed lives of five people and said that he has directed Chief Secretary to investigate the incident.

He said that elements who cannot digest progress of Pakistan are trying to create unrest and revealed that 200,000 to 300,000 social media accounts were formed from India in last 10 days to target Pakistan.

The interior minister said that Balochistan and Gwadar are future of Pakistan and China is closest friend of Pakistan and reiterated that armed forces of Pakistan won fight against terrorism after laying down thousands of lives.

Sheikh Rashid said Pakistan was a great nation and with the help of its great armed forces and intelligence agencies, will thwart all evil designs as well as conspiracies being hatched in India, against it.

“We had the reports of a possible attack. TTP itself said the outfit is active. We have defeated the TTP in the past,” Sheikh Rasheed said.

“The forces working against Pakistan’s development wanted to destabilize the peace of the country. Gwadar is Pakistan’s future and China is Pakistan’s time-tested friend,” Sheikh said.

The minister said security has been beefed up in the country and forces and spy agencies are working to safeguard the country as they had laid down their lives to protect the soil in the past.

Sheikh Rasheed vowed to fail the conspiracy being hatched in neighbouring countries. “We already handed over many pickets of Frontier Constabulary (FC) to the police and were ready to give more pickets but this is not possible now,” he added. Funeral held

Responding to a question, the interior minister clarified the Chinese ambassador was in Quetta for the past few days and is safe. He rejected speculation that the Chinese ambassador was at the hotel when the blast took place, saying that the diplomat was somewhere else.

He said that the Chinese ambassador to Pakistan is still in Quetta but at someplace other than the hotel and is safe after last night suicide attack.

Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Nong Rong also tweeted on Thursday (today), “Impressive visit of Rashakai Special Economic Zone (SEZ) and effective communication with all stakeholders in regard to the SEZ to secure its development and growth.”

When asked whether there will be chaos and anarchy in the country in recent days, Rasheed replied in the negative. He said an elected prime minister, a great army and 220 million people were the guardians of the nation. "We know how to live and die for this country," he said.

The minister said a forensic investigation was being conducted into the attack, adding that so far, the terrorists have not been identified yet.

Sheikh Rasheed said that the suicide bomber remained in the car with 60kg to 80kg explosives (C-4 type) when he carried out the attack at around 10:15pm.

The Interior Minister said that five people were martyred and 12 others were injured in the suicide attack while one injured is in critical condition.

It is pertinent to mention here that death toll from bomb blast at the parking of Serena Hotel on Wednesday night has climbed to five after an injured person succumbed to his wounds during treatment at the Civil Hospital Quetta.

Sources said that one police official is among the dead. At least 11 persons injured in the blast are still under treatment at the Civil Hospital Quetta.

An explosion took place at Wednesday night in the parking of a hotel on Quetta’s Jinnah Road, leaving four people dead on the spot and twelve others injured.

Assistant Commissioner Revenue Quetta Ijaz Ahmed and Assistant Commissioner Jaffarabad Bilal Shabbir are also among the injured. NNI