At least 30 people including 10 policemen were killed and injured in a blast in Balochistan’s capital of Quetta on Wednesday morning. Police sources said a truck carrying policemen was targeted through a blast.
The Deputy Inspector General of Police Quetta said that the policemen were on their way to duty when the police truck was targeted by a rickshaw. At least 20 to 25 kilograms of explosives were used in the blast, DIG said.
“This seems to be a suicide attack”, another security official told the media. The policemen were coming from Baleli to Quetta city when targeted. Initial investigation suggests a suicide bomber rammed his explosive-laden rikshaw (vehicle) into the police truck. The death toll is likely to rise as some injured are in serious condition, the DIG Police said.
According to the Dawn News report, Four individuals, including a police officer and three civilians died in the blast. While Dawn quotedthe media coordinator for the Balochistan Health Department, Dr. Waseem Baig that “27 others, including 20 policemen and four civilians, were injured in the attack.”
The injured were rushed to the civil hospital Quetta and the combined military hospital for medical treatment. An emergency was declared in the hospital to provide medical treatment to the injured by the blast.
Chief Minister Balochistan, Quddus Bizenjo strongly condemned the attack and directed the police to submit a report in this regard.
According to the police, due to the explosion, a car passing nearby was also hit. As a result, a woman in the car was also injured. As soon as the explosion was reported, the fire brigade and ambulance went to the scene, bomb disposal squad was also called, police sources said.
A religious militant group Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack. A short note on the TTP official channel read, “Congratulations on the suicide attack in Baleli area of Quetta, stay with us for details.”
It is to be noted that TTP formally renounced its flimsy cease-fire with the Pakistani state and warned of retaliatory activities throughout the country.
The group said in a media statement earlier this week that its senior leadership ended the cease-fire agreement signed with the Pakistani state in June this year. The TTP fighters have been directed to start retaliatory activities against state forces throughout the country, it said.
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