At least five people, including three security personnel and a police head constable, were killed while 16 others suffered injuries in separate explosions and an ambush in different parts of Balochistan on Thursday.
A Frontier Corps (FC) official was killed and five others, including two security men, were injured when a remote-controlled device fixed in a car went off on Saryab Road in Quetta.
According to DIG Operations Hamid Shakil, an explosive device was attached to a car parked along the road near Badini Cross in Saryab area. It was detonated through a remote control when two official vehicles of the FC were passing by the area.
As a result of the powerful explosion, a man identified as Lance Naik Mohammad Umar, died instantly, while two security personnel and two passersby received splinter wounds. The car was completely destroyed while two official vehicles and a pickup were partially damaged in the blast.
The FC personnel cordoned off the area and the injured security personnel were taken to the Combined Military Hospital while civilians were moved to the Sandeman Hospital.
According to the Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS), around 20 to 25 kilogrammes of explosives were used in the blast. “It was a powerful blast and it could have caused more loss and destruction had there been heavy traffic,” an official of the BDS said.
DIG operations Hamid Shakil confirmed that it was a remote-controlled blast, saying that one of the FC vehicles had a jammer and once the first vehicle passed by, the blast took place right after.
“We were close to the FC vehicles when suddenly a huge blast occurred,” Haji Mohammad, who suffered injuries, told the media.
In Dera Murad Jamali, at least two security personnel were killed and seven others were injured when a remote-controlled explosion took place in the Chatar area, official sources said.
Unidentified men planted an explosive device along Chattar Road which they detonated when a security forces’ convoy passed by. Resultantly, two security personnel died on the spot while seven others suffered critical injuries.
Local administration, soon after the incident, reached the site and shifted the victims to Civil Hospital, Dera Murad Jamali. Law enforcement agencies have launched a search operation for the culprits.
In Sohbatpur, a police constable was shot dead and two other personnel were injured when a group of assailants ambushed a police check post early on Thursday.
Official sources said that a group of men armed with sophisticated weaponry opened fire at a police check post within the limits of Panwar Senhari police station, killing a head constable Akhtar Hussain Lashari on the spot, and injuring two others. In the crossfire that ensued, one of the assailants died on the spot while others fled the scene. A heavy police contingent rushed to the site and cordoned off the area and launched a manhunt.
Banned outfit Baloch Republican Army (BRA) claimed responsibility for the attacks in Dera Murad Jamali and Sohbatpur and vowed to target law enforcement agencies in the future as well.
In Turbat, two personnel of the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) were injured when their vehicle was attacked with a remote-controlled bomb in main Turbat Bazaar.
“The device was planted with the motorbike and went off just as the ANF vehicle drove by,” a senior police officer said, adding that two personnel were injured while the official vehicle was damaged in the attack. The blast triggered panic in the bazaar as the personnel opened aerial fire soon after the explosion. An investigation has been launched into the attack.
Meanwhile, the locomotive of a passenger train Bolan Mail was damaged in a remote-controlled explosion near Sibi district. The device was planted along the railway tracks and was detonated when the Quetta-bound Bolan Mail, carrying passengers from Karachi, passed through. The blast damaged the locomotive engine of the train.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 18th, 2011.
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