Pakistan: 6 Killed, Including Two Policemen, in Terrorist Attacks in Quetta and Khuzdar

QUETTA (Terror Monitor) — Six people, including two policemen, were killed in separate terrorist attacks in Quetta, the capital of Pakistan’s restive Balochistan province, and Khuzdar, officials and local sources said.

Five of the victims were killed at around 5 a.m. Wednesday in the Hawak area of Aranji, in Wadh tehsil of Khuzdar district.

Abdul Fatah Rind, station house officer of the Aranji Police Station, confirmed the incident and said unidentified armed terrorists attacked the area, located approximately 100 kilometers east of the police station.

According to Rind, four people were killed at the scene. The attackers also abducted a police officer from the area and later killed him after taking him some distance away.

A senior government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the attack took place in an area where police personnel had been deployed following a previous attack last year targeting Atta-ur-Rehman Mengal, the brother of Pakistan Peoples Party leader and head of the Jhalawan Awami Panel, Mir Shafiq-ur-Rehman Mengal. Atta-ur-Rehman Mengal was killed in that attack.

The official said additional police personnel had been deployed in the area following the incident.

He said the identities of those killed and wounded in Wednesday’s attack had been established. One of those killed was an employee of the provincial health department, he added.

A large contingent of police personnel was dispatched to the area following the attack.

The outlawed Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Previous Attacks Targeting Shafiq Mengal

The attack comes amid a history of violence targeting Mir Shafiq-ur-Rehman Mengal and his associates.

In July this year, a major suicide attack targeted Mengal’s residence in Khuzdar city. Mengal survived the attack, but several of his security guards were killed.

In December 2011, his residence in Quetta was also targeted in a suicide attack. The incident was described as the first suicide attack during the current insurgency in Balochistan.

The BLA also claimed responsibility for both previous attacks targeting Mengal’s residences.

Policeman Killed in Quetta

The second police officer was killed in a separate attack in Quetta city.

According to a spokesperson for the Balochistan Police, police officer Muhammad Abbas was attacked by unidentified motorcycle-riding terrorists within the jurisdiction of the Shaheed Abdul Khaliq Police Station.

Abbas was killed in the attack. His funeral prayer was held at the Police Lines in Quetta and was attended by Balochistan Inspector General of Police Muhammad Tahir Khan and other senior officials.

The motive behind the Quetta attack remains unknown.