4 cops killed in Quetta attacks

According to an official tally, over 30 policemen have been killed in the city this year alone

QUETTA: Motorcycle-borne gunmen shot dead four policemen in separate targeted attacks in Quetta on Tuesday. Over 30 policemen have been killed in the city this year alone, according to an official tally.

In the latest attack in the restive province of Balochistan, gunmen ambushed a police patrol in the Chaki Shahwani area of Saryab, killing the driver and the guard of Sibi’s district police officer.

SSP Nadeem Hussain said constables Faiz Ahmed and Naeem were coming from Sibi when they were targeted. Both died on the spot while the attackers managed to flee unidentified and unchallenged.

The corpses were shifted to the Civil Hospital. After post-mortem, the bodies were handed over to the heirs for burial while police registered an FIR against unidentified killers.

In the second attack, assailants opened fire at a mobile van of the Shalkot police near Hazar Ganji, an outskirt of the provincial capital. Driver Muhammad Ali and guard Muhammad Ayub were out to buy bread for Iftar when they were attacked. Shalkot SHO Javed Buzdar survived the attack, SSP Nadeem said. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Gun and bomb attacks against police have spiked recently in Quetta. Last week, a policeman was shot dead inside a mosque near Gawalmandi.

Expressing remorse over the attacks, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif directed Balochistan authorities to hunt down the perpetrators as soon as possible. Sympathising with the bereaved families, he also called upon the provincial government to devise a coordinated strategy in consultation with the interior ministry to deal with the recent wave of attacks.

Balochistan Chief Minister Sanaullah Zehri also condemned the attacks and vowed his administration would not spare those spreading terror in the province.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 29^th, 2016.