Two police officers were killed and two others were critically injured when a bomb attached to a police vehicle went off in Khuzdar, Balochistan, on Saturday, according to local sources, the Khaama Press reported.
The explosion took place when the vehicle was patrolling the area near the Jhalawan Complex, police officials stated. “Unidentified people placed a magnetic bomb on the police vehicle and detonated it with a remote control, resulting in the death and injury of four security personnel,” Fahad Khosa, Khuzdar’s senior superintendent of police, said.
The Khaama Press reported that after the terror attack, security forces launched a search operation in and around Khuzdar town to trace the elements of the bomb attack and avoid similar incidents. Balochistan’s Chief Minister, Mir Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo, has condemned the blast and directed the authorities to take all possible measures to arrest the culprits behind it.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far; however, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) have launched several attacks targeting security personnel in the Balochistan province of Pakistan in the past, Khaama Press reported.
Since the outlawed TTP ended its unilateral ceasefire with the Pakistani government in November, the militant group has increased attacks across Pakistan, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan in the past months. The militant group has targeted police officers, army personnel, and Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI) officials. The threats of terrorism and militancy have unprecedentedly increased in Pakistan since the withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan. Many Pakistani political experts believe that the TTP has hideouts in Afghanistan and plans attacks on Pakistan from Afghan soil.