At least 10 paramilitary troops have been killed and 12 others injured in a suicide blast in southwestern Pakistan on Monday because the nation battles with a latest surge in violent assaults.
“At least 10 soldiers of the paramilitary Balochistan Levies Force were killed in a blast,” Ijaz Ahmad, a spokesperson for the native police advised the Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa).
The bomber driving on a motorbike rammed right into a police truck in Pakistan’s restive southwest, authorities mentioned.
No one instantly claimed duty for the bombing, which befell on a bridge within the district of Sibi in Baluchistan province, however Baluch separatists and native militants have been blamed for earlier such assaults.
Mahmood Notenzai, a neighborhood police chief, mentioned the officers have been on a routine patrol when the assault occurred, initially killing 9.
The casualties have been taken to a close-by hospital, the place one of many critically wounded officers later died, he added. Sibi is about 150 kilometers (90 miles) east of Quetta, the provincial capital.
Notenzai mentioned the troops who got here below assault have been deployed final week to Sibi, the place an annual cultural competition was held amid tight safety. An military helicopter was despatched to evacuate the severely wounded to a hospital in Quetta, the place higher well being amenities can be found.
Last 12 months, a suicide bomber from the Daesh terrorist group focused President Arif Alvi’s safety convoy when he attended the Sibi competition.
Alvi was distant from the positioning of the bombing, which killed 5 troops. Daesh militants later claimed duty for that assault.
More than 100 individuals have been killed in a suicide bomb assault on a mosque in northwestern Pakistan’s Peshawar final on Jan. 30.
Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif condemned the assault. In a press release, he expressed his condolences to the households of these killed and ordered well being officers to offer one of the best medical take care of the wounded policemen.
He mentioned the assault was a part of nefarious enemy plans to destabilize Pakistan and vowed to defeat terrorism.
Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo, the highest elected official in Baluchistan, additionally denounced the bombing.
“The terrorists who are carrying out such attacks are the enemy of Pakistan,” he mentioned, including that they won’t shake the resolve of the nation’s police.
Baluchistan has lengthy struggled with a low-level insurgency by the Baluchistan Liberation Army and different small separatist teams demanding independence from the central authorities in Islamabad.
Authorities declare to have quelled the insurgency however violence has continued. The province has additionally seen assaults by militants from each the Pakistani Taliban and the Daesh terrorist group.
Source: www.dailysabah.com
