Bomb disposal chief killed in blast in Quetta

islamabad — A top bomb squad officer has been killed along with another policeman while trying to defuse a bomb in the southwestern city of Quetta, police said on Tuesday.

The blasts were claimed by different militant factions and did not appear to be related. They came after a period of relative calm had bolstered hopes for an overall improvement in security.

The commander of the city’s bomb disposal unit and a colleague were killed late on Monday, hours after another blast killed at least 13 people and wounded more than 80 in the eastern city of Lahore.

The blasts were claimed by different militant factions and did not appear to be related. They came after a period of relative calm had bolstered hopes for an overall improvement in security.

“They died on the spot, their bodies blown up,” Abdul Razzaq Cheema, deputy inspector general of police in Quetta, said of the two officers. The sectarian militant group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi’s Al Alami faction claimed responsibility on Tuesday. —