Pakistani Taliban claim suicide blast near border
17 guards and two civilians wounded in explosion
The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing that killed four paramilitary guards in the southwestern city of Quetta.
The attack targeted Pakistani Frontier Constabulary (FC) guards in the Mian Ghundi neighbourhood of the city — around 140 kilometres (87 miles) from the frontier with Afghanistan — where Hazara merchants were selling vegetables.
The bomber “targeted the FC elements with an explosives-laden jacket and an explosives-laden motorcycle”, on the Mastung road in Quetta, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) said in a statement cited by the SITE Intelligence Group.
A spokesman for the police’s Counter-Terrorism Department confirmed the attack.
Casualties
Three died immediately in the blast, with another officer dying later of his wounds, said Azhar Akram, a deputy inspector general of police.
Akram told AFP that 17 guards and two civilians were wounded in the blast, adding that three are in critical condition.
The TTP claimed more than 30 FC personnel were killed and wounded in the attack.
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan condemned “the TTP attack on FC Checkpost” in a tweet from his office, offering his condolences and concern for the recovery of the wounded.