File Photo. Asif Hassan—AFP
ISIS-K claims suicide bombing that occurred shortly after President Alvi’s motorcade had passed through the area
A suicide bomber struck Sibi district in Balochistan province on Tuesday, martyring seven security personnel and leaving 21 others, including 18 law enforcers, injured.
According to police, the martyred personnel were all members of the paramilitary Frontier Constabulary. “The explosion happened some 25 minutes after the president left the area,” senior police official Dostain Dashti told the AFP news agency, adding that initial investigations suggested it was a suicide attack.
President Arif Alvi had been in the area to address the concluding ceremony of the Sibi Mela, with security forces deployed in large numbers to ensure his security. While his motorcade had already passed along the route, the security personnel had not yet been pulled back, leaving them a target for the suicide attacker. The Islamic State-Khorasan (ISIS-K) has claimed responsibility for the assault.
This is a second major suicide attack in the country in the past week that has been claimed by ISIS-K; on Friday, the militant group claimed a suicide bombing on a Peshawar mosque that has, thus far, resulted in 63 deaths and over 190 injuries.
According to local officials, security forces, including police and Levies personnel, sealed the area shortly after the blast and rushed the bodies and injured to district hospital and combined military hospital, Sibi.
Balochistan Chief Minister Quddus Bizenjo, in a statement, condemned the blast and declared it an attempt to sabotage the Sibi Mela and overall peace in the province. He reiterated vows to thwart “all conspiracies against the province,” and directed police to beef up security in the region and arrest those involved in the incident.
Terrorists slain
Separately, the military’s media wing said that security forces had gunned down seven “externally sponsored terrorists,” including commanders Hasil Doda and Washdil, during an intelligence-based operation in Balochistan’s Turbat district.
According to a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the operation was launched on the basis of information related to the presence of a terrorist hideout in the Gorchop area of Turbat. It said that after troops had started a clearance operation in the area, the terrorists tried to escape from their camp and opened indiscriminate fire on the security forces.
Alleging that the terrorists had been involved in recent attacks on security forces in Makran Division, the ISPR said troops had recovered a significant cache of arms and ammunition from the hideout.
“Operations to eliminate such perpetrators of terrorist acts in Pakistan will continue and they will not be allowed to sabotage peace, stability and progress of Balochistan,” it added.