A targeted attack on security forces carried out by a splinter group of the Pakistani Taliban in the restive southwestern Balochistan province killed at least two paramilitary personnel and injured 14, police said on Tuesday.
A motorcycle strapped with explosives blew up when a Frontier Corps (FC) vehicle passed by on McConaughey road near Liaquat Bazar area in Quetta city, capital of Balochistan province, police said.
Quetta police chief Abdul Wali said two Frontier Corp soldiers were killed and 14 were injured in the targeted roadside explosion. He said the condition of some of the wounded, undergoing treatment at the Quetta Civil Hospital, was critical. Hizbul Ahrar, a group of the Pakistani Taliban, has claimed responsibility for the explosion.
"The impact of the explosion was so strong that its sound was heard far off and windows of nearby buildings and parked vehicles also got damaged," another police official said. Six to seven killogrammes of explosive material was used in the attack, according to reports.
Rescue and security forces immediately reached the scene of the blast and cordoned off the area. The toll is expected to rise as rescue operations are still under way.
Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Kamal condemned the attack and has sought a detailed report. "Cowardly terrorists once again seek to upend peace in the city as well as the province," he said.
The explosion took place after a lull in terror attacks in the Balochistan province for the last two months. Banned militant, separatist and sectarian outfits carried out several attacks on security forces, government installations and the Hazara Shia Muslims in Quetta last year with the two deadliest incidents happening in April, 2019.
On April 12, a suicide bomb attack at a marketplace in a Hazara housing society in killed at least 21 people, including nine Hazaras and two security personnel, and scores were injured.
In the same month, two more terror attacks took place in the city in which at least six policemen were killed and eight Frontier Corp personnel injured.
In January, a suicide bomber rammed his explosive-laden motorcycle into a police truck, killing six policemen and injuring 20 others near the Baluchistan Assembly in the red zone area of Quetta.
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