Deadly ambush: Four policemen shot dead in Quetta

Two police guards of FRP deputy commandant die in Peshawar attack.

QUETTA/ PESHAWAR:

Gunmen ambushed a police patrol vehicle and shot dead four policemen in the troubled Pashtoonabad suburb of the provincial capital on Thursday, in the second such targeted attack on law enforcers in less than a week.

The gunmen who were riding motorcycles shot dead an assistant sub-inspector, his driver and two police constables on board, according to SSP Operations Quetta Aitzaz Goraya. The gunmen fled the scene unidentified and unchallenged before a police contingent reached the site.

The incident comes less than a week after four police officers were gunned down while patrolling in the same neighbourhood on Saturday.

“It is the first time that eight policemen have been killed by armed men in just one week,” said Quetta police chief Abdul Razzak Cheema. “One of them got down from the police pickup and tried to retaliate, but was killed on the spot,” he said.



Shortly after the deadly attack, the area was cordoned off by police and Frontier Corps personnel. The fatalities were shuttled to the Civil Hospital Quetta for autopsies where they were identified as ASI Mohammad Wazir, Kalimullah (driver), constables Mehmood Khan and Zahir Khan.

In the aftermath of the assault, the CCPO announced a new security plan involving motorcycle police accompanying police patrol cars for the insurgency-hit province.

No group claimed responsibility for the attack. In a statement, Jan Mohammad Buledi, the spokesperson for Balochistan chief minister, condemned the attack in Pashtoonabad area.

Police guards of FRP deputy chief slain

Two policemen were killed and six people, including deputy commandant of the Frontier Reserve Police (FRP) and two civilians, were injured when a suicide bomber hit a convoy in Hayatabad Phase 5 on Thursday morning.

Deputy Commandant Malik Tariq was on his way to office from his residence when a suicide bomber rammed his motorcycle into a convoy vehicle.

“It was a suicide attack targeting the FRP deputy commandant who has been injured in the attack. Two of his gunmen are dead,” SSP Operations Dr Mian Saeed told The Express Tribune.

The vehicle of the deputy commandant was badly damaged and two of his gunmen constable Lal Bahadar, a resident of Zaida, Swabi and constable Ibrar Hussain, a resident of Mardan, were killed on the spot. Both the deceased and the injured were rushed to the Hayatabad Medical Complex (HMC) where the condition of Malik Tariq is stated to be stable. Two passersby Mir Wali and Khuda Nazar were also injured in the attack.

Talking to The Express Tribune AIG Shafqat Malik, head of Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS), said that it was a suicide attack and the attacker was carrying at least six to eight kilograms of high explosive in his vest.

“He was also riding a bike which is quite a new pattern. He was on the bike probably to gain mobility and avoid inviting unnecessary suspicion from the police,” he argued. From the size of the skull of the attacker, it could be gauged that the attacker was around 20 years old.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 12^th, 2015.