Terrorism

Blast kills Qilla Abdullah district police officer and guard, injures 11

AFP

Pakistani security personnel inspect a vehicle at the site of a bomb that targeted police in Chaman, Balochistan Province, July 10. The blast killed the district police officer and his guard and wounded 11 others, according to local officials. [Asghar Achakzai/AFP]

Pakistani security personnel inspect a vehicle at the site of a bomb that targeted police in Chaman, Balochistan Province, July 10. The blast killed the district police officer and his guard and wounded 11 others, according to local officials. [Asghar Achakzai/AFP]

QUETTA -- A bomb Monday (July 10) killed a senior police official and his guard and wounded 11 others in Chaman, Balochistan Province, officials said.

"[District Police Officer] Sajid Khan Mohmand and his guard were martyred, and 11 others were wounded in the bomb blast," Balochistan government spokesman Anwar Kakar told AFP.

According to initial reports, he said, the bomb was planted in a motorcycle on a roadside, which exploded when Mohmand's vehicle passed by.

Chaman Deputy Commissioner Qaiser Khan said a suicide bomber riding a motorcycle attacked the convoy, according to Geo News.

Two senior government officials confirmed the blast and casualties, saying police were targeted.

No immediate claims

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. Tribal rebels, the Taliban, the "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS) and other militant groups have carried out attacks against security forces in the province recently.

Last month, an explosion targeting a police vehicle in Quetta, capital of the province, killed at least 13 people and injured about 20 others.

The June 23 blast, on the occasion of Juma-tul-Wida (the last Friday in Ramadan), was claimed by both the ISIS Khorasan branch and by Jamatul Ahrar, an offshoot of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), according to the SITE monitoring group.

Pakistan has been battling Islamist and nationalist insurgencies in Balochistan since 2004, with hundreds of soldiers and militants killed in the fighting.

A greater push towards peace and development by Pakistani authorities has reduced the violence considerably in recent years.

The father of three daughters and three sons, Mohmand showed his determination to restore peace in the region in a recent social media post that reads, "There is always something worth fighting for," according to Geo News.

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