Woman suicide bomber kills one soldier, injures 4 others in Pakistan's Balochistan

Karachi, Mar 3 (PTI) A woman suicide bomber targeted a convoy of paramilitary Frontier Corps on Monday, killing one soldier and wounding four others in the troubled south-western Balochistan province in Pakistan, officials said.

The attacker targeted the convoy of the paramilitary force on the national highway near the Mughalzai area of Kalat district, the interior ministry said in a statement on X.

No group has claimed responsibility for the suicide attack, a rare assault in which a female suicide bomber was involved.

Kalat Deputy Commissioner Bilal Shabbir confirmed the death toll.

“One soldier of the FC was killed and four others injured in the suicide attack conducted by a female suicide bomber,” said Shabbir.

He also said that medical treatment was being provided to the injured, while adding that security forces cordoned off the area and launched an investigation with the assailant’s body parts recovered from the scene for further analysis and identification.

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi paid homage to the slain personnel, identified as Attaullah, and extended his sympathy and condolences to the family of the deceased.

Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Sarfaraz Bugti strongly condemned the suicide attack and said that terrorism and cowardly acts could not affect the province’s peace and stability.

“We salute the services and sacrifices of security forces. The blood of martyrs will not go in vain. Every person of Balochistan is indebted to the blood of martyrs,” he was quoted as saying in a statement.

Balochistan, bordering Iran and Afghanistan, is home to a long-running violent insurgency. Baloch insurgent groups frequently carry out attacks targeting security personnel, government projects and the USD 60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects in the region.

The province faces a double threat by the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan and Baloch militants, who blame the federal government for the backwardness of the impoverished province.

Last week, eight people, including six security personnel, were injured in a bomb attack on a truck convoy guarding the copper project in the Mangochar area of Kalat. PTI SH ZH ZH

Source: PTI