Suicide attack in Southwestern Pakistan; 9 security personnel killed, injured 7

A suicide attack in Pakistan's restive Balochistan province killed nine security personnel on Monday. The attack also injured 13 others, some of whom harshly reported to the local police.

The blast occurred near a truck belonging to the Balochistan Police on the Kambri Bridge, located on the Quetta-Sibi highway. Kachhi Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Mehmood Notezai said preliminary evidence indicated that it was a suicide attack, the report said.

However, the exact nature of the explosion could only be determined after the investigation was completed. He said a bomb disposal team had also reached the blast site. Police cordoned off the area after the blast and other search operations are also underway, the report said. Notezai said that "at least nine Balochistan police personnel were killed and 13 injured in the Bolan bomb attack". No one or a group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack. As soon as the information was received by the local administration, the security forces rushed to the scene of the suicide attack.

Balochistan Police (BC) personnel were returning from duty at the Sibi Mela when they were targeted. The truck overturned due to the intensity of the explosion. The bodies and injured personnel were taken to Sibi district where they were given medical attention. The condition of some of the injured is said to be critical.

The BC is a provincial police department that provides security at major events and in sensitive areas, including prisons. The blast follows attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and areas bordering Afghanistan. Pakistan faces violence from the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), an offshoot of the Afghan Taliban, which is ideologically linked to the Afghan branch but draws its leaders from Pakistan.