Bolan explosion targeting police van kills nine, wounds 15

Blast was reported near Balochistan Constabulary truck

Mujeeb Ahmed

Updated 07 Mar, 2023

Pakistan

Rangers and locals visit the site of blast in Bolan, Balochistan on March 06, 2023. Photo via author

The police truck overturned after the blast in Bolan, Balochistan on March 06, 2023. Photo via author

Rangers and police officials visit the site of blast in Bolan, Balochistan on March 06, 2023. Photo via author

A suicide bomber killed at least nine policemen and wounded eight others after hitting his bike with the Balochistan Constabulary truck near the Kheri Pul area in Bolan district, Balochistan on Monday, officials said.

“An explosive device was installed in the motorcycle,” Kacchi SSP Mehmood Notezai told Aaj News. “Injured policemen have been moved to Civil Hosptial Sibi for immediate medical aid.”

The van was transporting the reserved policemen to different check posts when they braced the assault, according to initial information, reminiscent of a similar attack staged over the last three months on the same target.

At least 22 policemen were on the bus, Sibi District Police Officer Yusuf Bhangar said.

He also confirmed that the Bolan incident was a suicide blast. “The suicide bomber was on a motorcycle,” he said and added that the band party of Balochistan Constabulary was going back to Quetta after participating in the Sibi festival. The site of the incident is around 15km to 20km from the district.

“The bomber had also worn the suicide vest and IED was also installed in the bike,” he said.

Pakistan has seen an uptick in terrorist attacks since the end of a shaky ceasefire, agreed with the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban in June, last year. The banned outfit, which called off the deal in November 2022, had ordered fighters to stage attacks across the country.

At least 25 police officers were injured and at least four were killed when a Balochistan Constabulary truck transporting them for polio duty was targeted in Quetta’s Baleli on November 30, 2022.

The bomb disposal squad has reached the site of the blast, he added. They are also conducting a search operation in the area. Pictures from the site of the blast showed that Rangers and police officials have reached.

Footage showed that the truck was being shifted.

Officials told Aaj News that the Balochistan Constabulary, a reserved police of the province, van was on its way to transport its men to different check posts. “The explosion occurred when a motorbike hit the truck,” Kacchi SSP Notezai said, adding that four were reported to be in critical condition.

Police, levies, and FC have cordoned off the area. A further investigation is being conducted into the area. Injured policemen said that a suicide bomber was on the motorcycle. The truck overturned after the blast.

The medical superintendent of Civil Hospital Quetta has imposed an emergency in view of the attack. The administration has summoned all consultants, doctors, pharmacists, staff nurses, and paramedical staff, to the infirmary.

The banned Islamic State claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing attack, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, Reuters reported.

“ISIS claims suicide attack in Sibi, Balochistan,” tweeted Rita Katz, director of the SITE Intel Group that tracks extremists.

Recent wave of terrorism

Former prime minister Imran Khan two years ago revealed that the government was in talks with some groups of the banned TTP, seeking reconciliation. The admission had come more than a month after the outlawed group’s ideological twin overthrew the government in Afghanistan and came to power.

It is believed that the banned terrorists had helped the Afghan Taliban in reclaiming the areas.

“There are different groups which form the TTP and some of them want to talk to our government for peace. So, we are in talks with them. It’s a reconciliation process,” he told TRT World on October 1, 2021. “Yes, we forgive them and they become normal citizens.”

But, the dialogue, which also led to a ceasefire deal, could not continue for long as the militant outfit had made some demands that were “unacceptable for the government”. Pakistan had managed to overcome the scourge of terrorism in Zarb-e-Azb operation launched after the Army Public School attack in 2014.

Many people in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, sharing a border with Afghanistan, staged peace demonstrations in the province as they claimed troublemakers were “making their presence felt” in the area. Moreover, several experts right from the start were against such talks, stressing that such developments give them time to “regroup”.

A year later, the banned group announced that they are calling off the deal and ordered its men to stage attacks in Pakistan. Though the information was reported on November 28 2022, the banned TTP had staged an attack before this.

Below is the list of attacks reported after the end of truce: