Quetta deputy police chief Ghulam Azfar Mahesar confirmed the attack and said that a total of three police vehicles were hit in the blast.
By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: A suspected suicide bomber from the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) blew himself up near an escorting police truck carrying security personnel to protect polio workers in the restive Balochistan province on Wednesday, killing at least four people and injuring 26 others, including 23 policemen, just two days after the militant group ended a ceasefire.
The TTP claimed responsibility for the attack in Quetta’s Baleli area.
Quetta deputy police chief Ghulam Azfar Mahesar confirmed the attack and said that a total of three vehicles were hit in the blast.
“Looking at the crime scene and given that the truck toppled, it is estimated that 25 kilograms of explosives were used,” he told the media.
The banned TTP’s attack was in retaliation for the killing of Abdul Wali also known as Omar Khalid Khurrassni killed in Afghanistan in August.
The TTP on Monday called off a shaky ceasefire with the government and ordered fighters to stage attacks across the country.
The decision, it stated, was taken after “the military organisations launched a series of non-stop attacks in Bannu’s Lakki Marwat district.
The TTP wants to overthrow Pakistan’s government to replace it with a governance system that subscribes to their own harsh interpretation of Islamic laws.
The Pakistan army has conducted several operations against the militants in their strongholds in lawless districts along the Afghan border in recent months.
Preliminary police investigations showed that a rickshaw hit the police truck. Authorities have declared an emergency in the hospitals of Quetta to treat the victims.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the incident and directed the authorities to initiate an investigation into the attack.
According to the state-run Radio Pakistan, the premier expressed grief and sorrow over the loss of life.
He also said that polio workers across the country were fulfilling their responsibilities without caring for their lives.
“Eliminating polio virus from the country is amongst the top priorities of the government and we will not rest until polio is completely eradicated,” he said, asserting that “evil elements” would always fail to harm the anti-polio campaign in the country.
President Dr Arif Alvi also condemned the attack and prayed for the forgiveness of the deceased and the recovery of the injured.
“The State will not allow anti-social elements to interfere in the mission of complete eradication of polio,” he said.
Attacks on workers of the anti-polio vaccination drives in Pakistan have increased in recent times. Islamist militants in Pakistan often target polio vaccination teams, having spread rumours that the immunisation effort is a western tool to spy on them and make Muslims infertile.
Copyright © 2021 Independent Pakistan | All rights reserved
