In Pakistan, three policemen were killed and 16 others injured in a bomb explosion in the southwestern Balochistan province today. The condition of two injured policemen is stated to be critical.
The incident took place near the Kund Masuri area of Mastung district, where a police bus carrying personnel from a training centre in Kalat district was hit by an IED. The police party belonged to the Balochistan Constabulary and was deployed for the security of a sit-in protest.
Authorities have launched an investigation. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack. Pakistan’s largest yet least populated province, Balochistan, has witnessed sporadic incidents of violence in recent years, with attacks often targeting security personnel and attributed to separatist and extremist groups.
Balochistan government spokesperson, Shahid Rind, said the Balochistan Constabulary vehicle was hit in the Dasht area of Mastung district while returning from duty. He said three policemen were killed on the spot while 18 others were moved to a hospital in Quetta where the condition of three of them is critical.
The Balochistan Constabulary is part of the provincial police service. Rind said the Balochistan Constabulary policemen were deployed for a sit-in by the Balochistan National Party—Mengal against the arrest of Baloch Yakjehti Council leaders and BNP-M activists.
He said the security forces cordoned off the area and an investigation into the attack was underway. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack but the Balochistan Liberation Army often attacks security forces in the province.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif strongly condemned the attack and directed authorities to ensure immediate medical treatment for the injured. Sharif vowed to continue the fight against terrorism and said: “We will thwart the nefarious designs of terrorists, who are enemies of humanity. Our war against terrorism will persist until this menace is completely eradicated from the country.”
Balochistan has been witnessing violence for about two decades by ethnic Baloch groups who are fighting for greater control over the mineral resources of the province.
The blast comes a day after a Frontier Corps soldier and two terrorists were killed during an attack on a Frontier Constabulary post in Noshki city.
