Four police personnel gunned down in Quetta

TTP claims responsibility for the attack; 48 suspects held

QUETTA/ ISLAMABAD:

Four police personnel were killed in Quetta as unidentified armed men open fired at them in Satellite Town on Thursday.

The personnel were sitting inside the room of a mini gas station, situated on Munir Mengal road of the town when four unidentified attackers barged in and opened indiscriminate fire at them, said SSP Operations Waheedur Rehman.

Twenty-five rounds of 9MM pistol were also recovered from inside the room of the gas station, he added.

As a result, three of the personnel were killed on the spot while a fourth succumbed to his injuries later.

The deceased were identified as constables Abdul Nafaay, Inyatullah and Sadiq.

Heavy contingents of police and other law enforcement agencies rushed to the scene and cordoned the area.

The deceased and the injured were shifted to the Civil Hospital, Quetta.

This was the fifth targeted attack on police in Quetta since the beginning of the year as at least 19 police personnel were killed within a month in numerous incidents of targeted killings and suicide attacks.

Earlier this month, unidentified armed men killed two police personnel on Sariab road in Quetta.

TTP claims responsibility

Meanwhile, the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack.

"The TTP's special unit STF's commandos successfully carried out the attack at a police mobile at Quetta's Satellite Town. The commandos disappeared after the attack," TTP spokesperson Mohammad Khorasani said on Thursday.

Fourty-eight suspects held

Following the attack, police and Frontier Corps carried out a joint search operation in Lowr Karaiz and Ghafoor Town, rounding up 48 suspects.

Funeral prayers offered

Funeral prayers of the deceased police personnel were offered at Civil Lines, Quetta, attended among others by home minister Mir Sarfaraz Bugti and Inspector General Police Ahsan Mehboob.