Suicide bomber kills 9 Pak soldiers, injures 13 in deadly attack in Balochistan

Nine security personnel of the Balochistan Constabulary were killed and 13 injured in a suicide bomb attack in Bolan, Balochistan, on Monday. This was the second attack in two days on Pakistani security forces by Baloch fighters.

The suicide attack was carried out on the Kambri bridge on the Quetta-Sibi highway after a bomber rammed his explosive-laden motorcycle into the police vehicle. The truck overturned due to the intensity of the explosion.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) of Kachhi, Mehmood Notezai, said initial evidence suggests it was a suicide attack. He added that a bomb disposal team reached the site of the attack and security personnel launched search operations.

A helicopter ferried the injured personnel to Balochistan capital Quetta and an emergency was declared at hospitals in the region. The Balochistan Constabulary provides security at important events and in sensitive areas.

Balochistan Chief Minister Abdul Quddus Bizenjo condemned Monday’s attack, saying: “A conspiracy is being hatched to keep the province from progressing by creating unrest and instability”.

In another attack carried out a day earlier on Sunday morning, rebel outfit, Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF) planted a mine on a bridge of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) road and detonated it through remote control, destroying an army vehicle killing at least one and injuring eight soldiers.

Regarding Sunday’s attack, a press release by Major Ghoram Baloch, spokesman for the BLF had claimed that eight personnel including an officer of the Pakistani forces were killed.

Balochistan is caught in the throes of a major insurgency as the Baloch people feel alienated from Pakistan. Harnessing the opposition to Pakistan, Baloch groups have unleashed a lethal assault against the Pakistani government and forces, even instilling fear in Chinese investors and companies who have now almost stopped work on the grand infrastructure collaboration – the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

Pakistan is currently facing a two-pronged attack – on one side are the Baloch rebels and on the other hand the Afghanistan-based Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), has initiated many daring attacks against the Pakistani police in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, Balochistan and even Punjab. Two major attacks include the January 30 mosque attack in Peshawar that killed 101 worshippers, mostly policemen, and the siege of the Karachi Police office in which five people were killed.

Pakistan has tried to buy peace through negotiations with the TTP, even persuading the Taliban government in Kabul to broker a ceasefire with the TTP, which ended in November last year. The terror groups are convinced that Pakistan lacks the resolve to tackle them militarily.

Also read: Pakistan delegation in Kabul to mend fences over TTP and border flare-ups