Taleban suicide bomber, shooting kill 6 policemen
peshawar — Six policemen were killed in two separate terrorist attacks in Pakistan on Thursday, including a suicide bombing that wounded a senior police commander, officials said.
The Taleban suicide bomber, who was riding on a motorcycle, blew himself up near a vehicle in the northwestern city of Peshawar, the city’s police chief Mian Mohammed Saeed said. Two policemen were killed, and deputy commander Malik Tariq, who was riding in the vehicle, was wounded along with two of his guards, he said.
Mohammed Khurasani, a spokesman for the outlawed Pakistani Taleban, claimed responsibility for the bombing and warned of more attacks. The terrorist group has killed thousands of innocent people in bomb and gun attacks across Pakistan in a campaign of terrorism for nearly a decade.
Hours later, gunmen opened fire on a police vehicle in the southwestern city of Quetta, killing four officers, police spokesman Farhat Shahzada said. No one claimed responsibility for the attack.
Quetta is the capital of Balochistan province, affected by militancy, sectarianism and a low-scale ‘foreign connected’ rebellion.
The military, meanwhile, said a “cordon and search” operation in the North Waziristan tribal region resulted in the killing of 10 terrorists. Pakistan launched a major offensive a year ago in North Waziristan, a longtime haven for the Pakistani Taleban and other terrorist groups.
The military says the operation has killed over 1,300 militants since then and that 90 per cent of the region has been cleared of terrorists.
Journalists have virtually no access to the mountainous region along the Afghan border. —