Multiple bomb blasts on Tuesday damaged a bridge over the Indus river, a vital source of water, police said. Unidentified attackers fixed explosives to the six pillars of the Jamshoro bridge, near Hyderabad, police officer Dost Ali Baloch told AFP. "It was quite powerful material which damaged the pillars of the bridge," he said, adding that a protective shield under the bridge averted major destruction. Experts were brought in to assess the damage but traffic was still passing over the bridge, he said.

The Jamshoro bridge is on top of the last water barrage at the tail of the Indus river, which supplies much of irrigation and drinking water needs.

No organisation had claimed responsibility for the blast but the police said it was an "act of sheer terrorism."

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2005