3 children killed while playing with hand grenade in Quetta's Kharotabad suburb

Three children were killed on Thursday when a hand grenade they mistook for a toy went off, in the Kharotabad suburban area of Quetta.

According to Balochistan government spokesperson Liaquat Shahwani, three others were injured in the explosion.

Shahwani, who had earlier said that an inquiry is underway to determine where the children found the hand grenade, later said that the children found the grenade in a nearby graveyard.

"The injured children are being provided the best possible treatment in hospital," he added.

The children were said by Javed Qamar, a senior police official to be aged between 10 and 14 years-old.

It "exploded while they were playing with it," he told AFP, adding that the condition of two wounded children was serious.

Azhar Ikram, another senior police official, confirmed the incident.

Dozens of children have died while playing with grenades, many of which found their way into the country from neighbouring Afghanistan after the Soviet invasion in 1979.

— With additional input from AFP.