Islamabad: A massive explosion occurred in the northern Pakistani city of Sialkot, media reports said on Sunday.
The sound of the blast was reportedly heard near the cantonment area in the Punjab province.
“Pakistan – Multiple explosions at the Sialkot military base in northern Pakistan. Initial indications are this is an ammunition storage area. A large fire is burning. Cause as yet unverified,” Rishi Suri, editor of The Daily Milap said in a tweet.
Officials claimed that due to short-circuiting, an accidental fire broke out in an ammunition shed near Sialkot Garrison. The damages were immediately contained and the fire has been extinguished.
The explosion reportedly occurred inside the Pakistan Army cantonment in the Northern city of Sialkot. Initial indications are that the fire is in an Ammunition storage area.
The video of a large fire and explosions quickly went viral on the internet. Sialkot, close to the Indian border, is one of the oldest and the most important Army cantonments in Pakistan.
This incident is the latest headache for Imran Khan who has been under severe pressure of late. While bomb blasts in the country continue, as usual, Imran Khan is also under pressure to save his chair. Facing a rebellion from within his coalition, and a revitalized opposition, Imran Khan is trying every trick to save his government.
The latest explosion comes only days after an improvised explosive device (IED) strike in the Sibi district of Balochistan killed four Pakistani soldiers and badly injured 10 more. Meanwhile, ahead of the blast in Balochistan, the Islamic State of Khorasan Province (ISKP) had claimed responsibility for a suicide attack in the same district that claimed the lives of at least 7 Pakistani soldiers.
Notably, Pakistan has been rocked by a series of terror attacks since the beginning of the year, with major cities such as Islamabad and Lahore being attacked. The Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies, an Islamabad-based think tank, recently published a report confirming the notion that Pakistan has been progressively slipping towards disorder and instability over the past few years.
Earlier this month, on March 4, a bomb exploded at a Shia mosque in Peshawar, killing at least 62 people and injuring dozens more. Earlier, Pakistan PM Imran Khan had informed that he had taken major measures to avoid the continued attacks in the country.