Eight killed as blast targets security forces convoy in Quetta

QUETTA: At least five people were killed and more than 25 injured as a bomb explosion targeted security forces vehicle near Liaqat Bagh area in Quetta city here on Saturday evening. According to details, the blast occurred on Jinnah Road when security forces convoy was on routine petrol. Eight people including three FC personnel and women were martyred in the explosion. Security forces and rescue teams rushed towards the blast site. The injured were shifted to civil hospital for treatment. Security forces has cordoned off the area. Bomb Disposal Squat reached the blast site to ascertain the nature of the explosion.

TTP claims responsibility

Meanwhile, the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) accepted responsibility for the blast.

TTP’s special unit (MSG) carried out the IED attack on Frontier Corps vehicle,” said spokesperson of the outfit Mohammad Khorasani.

Quetta BlastTeam Hazara Society ھزارہ سوسائٹی

Posted by ‎Youtube Pakistan‎ on Saturday, February 6, 2016

The attack comes days after a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a polio vaccination centre in Quetta on January 13, killing at least 15 people, mainly police.

The policemen had been gathering outside the centre to accompany polio workers on the third day of a vaccination campaign which are frequently targeted by Taliban and other militant groups in Pakistan.

Balochistan, is home to a raging insurgency that has claimed the lives of hundreds of soldiers and militants since it re-ignited in 2004, with rebels often attacking government installations and personnel.

The province’s roughly seven million inhabitants have long complained they do not receive a fair share of its gas and mineral wealth.