Two cops, 10 others injured in Quetta explosion targeting police vehicle

• Rescue officials found wrecked motorcycle near site of the blast.
• Bomb disposal squad was called to determine nature of explosion.
• Injured were shifted to Civil Sandeman Hospital, say police.
  

QUETTA: At least 12 people, including two cops, were injured after an explosion near a police mobile on the eastern bypass in Quetta, police told Geo News on Wednesday.

The rescue officials found a wrecked motorcycle near the site of the blast and the police claim that explosive material was planted in the motorcycle.

According to the law enforcers, a bomb disposal squad was called at the spot, while the nature of the blast was being determined.

The injured, meanwhile, were shifted to the Civil Sandeman Hospital, said the police.

CM Balochistan condemns blast

Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfaraz Bugti has condemned the attack, directing concerned authorities to provide medical facilities to those injured in the explosion.

"Terrorists will be brought to justice," he said, adding that action against them will continue.

The blast comes just two days after a "remote-controlled bomb explosion" targeted a police van guarding a convoy of foreign envoys heading to Malam Jabba from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Swat district on Sunday.

According to the police, the attack targeted a group of 11 foreign diplomats, resulting in one officer losing his life and four others being injured. All the envoys were safe after the explosion and had been shifted to Islamabad, said the police.

The nation has been reeling under rising violent attacks since the Taliban rulers returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021, particularly in the bordering provinces of KP and Balochistan.

The two most vulnerable provinces saw a sharp rise in deadly attacks last month, according to data from the Pak Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS).

The digital database of security incidents managed by the Islamabad-based think-tank suggested an alarming situation as the number of attacks jumped from 38 in July to 59 in August.

These incidents included 29 attacks in KP, 28 in Balochistan, and two in Punjab. Meanwhile, KP witnessed 25 casualties in the 29 terrorist attacks during August.

"The banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Hafiz Gul Bahadur Group, Lashkar-e-Islam, Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K) and few local Taliban groups were reportedly involved in these attacks," the report stated.

Against this backdrop, the federal cabinet in June this year approved Operation Azm-e-Istehkam, a reinvigorated national counter-terrorism campaign following the Central Apex Committee's recommendations under the National Action Plan to root out terrorism.