Five security personnel killed in Quetta IED blast

TTP claims responsibility of the incident; search operation underway

QUETTA/ ISLAMABAD: At least five security personnel were killed and two others sustained injuries in a roadside bomb targeting a convoy of security forces in Marget area of Quetta on Monday.

The bodies and the injured were shifted to a nearby medical facility while a search operation was launched in the area to arrest the suspected terrorists.

The deceased personnel were identified as Awais Muhammad, Muhammad Qaseem, Fareed, Muhammad Saleem, Mubashir Nadeem while Aqeel and Gulab received injuries, sources said.



TTP claims responsibility

Meanwhile, the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) accepted responsibility for the blast.

TTP's special unit (MSG) carried out the IED attack on Frontier Corps vehicle," said spokesperson of the outfit Mohammad Khorasani.

The attack comes days after a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a polio vaccination centre in Quetta on January 13, killing at least 15 people, mainly police.

The policemen had been gathering outside the centre to accompany polio workers on the third day of a vaccination campaign which are frequently targeted by Taliban and other militant groups in Pakistan.



Balochistan, is home to a raging insurgency that has claimed the lives of hundreds of soldiers and militants since it re-ignited in 2004, with rebels often attacking government installations and personnel.

The province’s roughly seven million inhabitants have long complained they do not receive a fair share of its gas and mineral wealth.