At least three police officers, including a sub-inspector, were killed in a gun attack on a police mobile unit in Quetta on Wednesday night, a senior police official has said.
The official said that unidentified gunmen on motorcycles opened fire on the police team near the city’s Sariab Road area at around 10:40pm.
“Three policemen, including Sub-Inspector Abdul Wali Tanoli, were killed in the targeted attack and one officer was wounded,” the official added.
CCTV footage of the attack showed armed men riding two motorcycles opening fire on the police vehicle before fleeing the area. The attackers had covered their faces.
The Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF), a “pro-independence” Baloch armed group, claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement issued on Thursday.
BLF spokesperson Major Gwahram Baloch said the group’s “Qurban Unit” had carried out the operation based on prior intelligence.
“Our fighters eliminated Sub-Inspector Abdul Wali Tanoli and two others, and confiscated their weapons,” the statement said.
The group accused the Quetta police of being involved in the “abduction-like arrests” of Baloch women and children, as well as torture and the extrajudicial killing of Baloch youth.
The statement warned that police personnel accused of such actions would now be treated as enemy combatants.
“Police acting against the Baloch nation will face the same consequences as the occupying army,” the BLF said. “Our mission is the national liberation of Balochistan, and this struggle will continue.”