Police officer martyred, two injured in Khuzdar blast

• CTD SHO Mohammad Murad embraces martyrdom.
• Wounded shifted to Khuzdar Teaching Hospital.
• Sarfaraz Bugti says nation has to fight terrorism.

KHUZDAR: A police official was martyred while two others sustained injuries after their vehicle was hit by a magnetic improvised explosive device (IED) in Khuzdar, Balochistan on Sunday. 

According to the police, Counter Terrorism Department's (CTD) Station House Officer Mohammad Murad embraced martyrdom in the blast after his car was targeted on the Sultan Ibrahim road.

The police added that the wounded have been shifted to the Khuzdar Teaching Hospital. 

Caretaker Federal Minister of Interior Sarfaraz Bugti, while speaking to Geo News following the incident, said that the whole nation has to fight the war against terrorism as it is becoming a great challenge. 

"The war against terrorism is not just CTDs but of the entire nation," he added. 

In October, two people were martyred and three were wounded in a roadside explosion in Balochistan's Chaghi area. 

According to the Levies force, the blast took place in Chaghi bazaar — at a distance of 60 kilometres from Dalbandin near the Pak-Afghan border — when a security forces vehicle was passing by.

The attack came days after more than 60 people died in two separate suicide attacks in Balochistan's Mastung and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Hangu city on September 29.

Pakistan has witnessed a significant spike in the form of the recent wave of terrorist attacks across the country.

According to a statistical report released by the independent think tank Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS), at least 271 militant attacks took place during the first half of 2023, resulting in the loss of 389 lives and injuring 656 individuals. Terror activities in the country soared by 79% during the period.

In light of the increase in attacks, the interior minister announced the November 1 deadline for the illegal "aliens", including Afghan illegal immigrants, to leave the county voluntarily.

The caretaker interior minister revealed that Afghan nationals were responsible for 14 of the 24 suicide bombings in the country this year.