Four security personnel martyred in Quetta suicide attack

QUETTA: As many as four security personnel were martyred and six Frontier Corps (FC) personnel were left injured in a suicide attack near Quetta on Tuesday evening, security sources said.

The explosion took place in Nauhisar area on the outskirts of the provincial capital while police and security personnel were conducting a search operation in the vicinity, sources informed. The attack targeted a Frontier Corps and Levies camp.

After the attack, the area was cordoned off by security forces and the injured were shifted to a nearby medical facility for treatment.

Earlier, two policemen were martyred in a targeted attack on the convoy of a police officer.

The vehicle of DSP Hameedullah Dasti was attacked on Samungli Road by unidentified personnel from two sides.

Police and security officials are often targetted in the Balochistan capital.

It is pertinent to mention here that four security personnel were martyred on Feb 14 when they were attacked near the city’s Sariab Road area. Police said unidentified attackers, riding a motorcycle, targeted a motorcycle patrol of the Frontier Corps (FC) while it was on routine duty along a railway track.

On January 28, a policeman was killed in Quetta’s Hazarganji area in a targetted attack while on January 18, two Balochistan Constabulary officials were killed in Quetta.

Similarly, a police constable was shot dead by unidentified attackers on the city’s Raisani Road on January 16.

A day earlier, on Jan 15, five Pakistan Army soldiers were killed in Kech, Balochistan when their vehicle turned turtle after it was fired at.

On Jan 9, four Balochistan Constabulary personnel were among six killed in a suicide attack near the Balochistan Assembly.

Meanwhile, on Jan 2, at least five people, including two FC personnel, were injured as a result of a gun and bomb attack on a check post in the Baleli area of the provincial capital, said security sources.

Punjab Chief Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif has strongly condemned the attack on security forces in Quetta and expressed a deep sense of sorrow and grief over the martyrdom of security officials.

He extended heartfelt condolences to the heirs of officials who got martyred in the attack and prayed for the early recovery of the injured.

The chief minister said that coward attacks cannot weaken the solid determination of the nation. He said that those who embraced martyrdom are heroes of the whole nation.