At least 11 people, including soldiers, were martyred and 32 were injured on Tuesday after a bomb blast ripped through a busy street near Quetta’s Frontier Corps (FC) headquarters, officials said.
Balochistan Health Minister Bakht Muhammad Kakar confirmed the death and injury toll. He said, “Ten people have been killed while 32 were injured in the blast. The injured have been taken to the Civil Hospital and Trauma Centre.”
Separately, he told Reuters that the those martyred in the blast also included soldiers.
Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Sarfraz Bugti strongly condemned the incident, calling it a “terrorist attack”.
Later, speaking during an event in Quetta, he said that “an operation against the terrorists is underway”.
President Asif Ali Zardari termed the incident a “suicide attack”.
“The president has strongly condemned the suicide attack in Quetta carried out by the Fitna-al-Khawarij, the misguided extremists acting on India’s agenda,” a statement from the President’s Secretariat said.
Meanwhile, the United States issued a strong condemnation, labeling the strike as a “heinous” act of violence. A statement released by the US Embassy in Islamabad on Tuesday underscored Washington’s outrage at the brutality of the incident, while expressing heartfelt sympathies for the victims’ families.
Also, the Embassy of Russia in Pakistan strongly condemned the terrorist attack in Quetta. “We emphasize the need to combat terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, and hope that those who organized and perpetrated this attack will be identified and brought to justice,” said a release issued by the Embassy of Russia in Islamabad here on Tuesday.
Separately, security forces killed seven Indian-sponsored terrorists in an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in the Zehri area of Balochistan’s Khuzdar district, security sources said on Tuesday.
According to the sources, the security terrorists carried out the operation on the reported presence of “terrorists belonging to Indian proxy, Fitna al Hindustan”. During the operation, seven terrorists have been killed so far, while ten others sustained injuries, they added.
Security forces also recovered improvised explosive devices (IEDs), transmitters, and US-made automatic weapons from the killed terrorists. Grenades, ammunition, and motorcycles were also seized during the operation.
The sources added that security forces further neutralised an IED planted by the terrorists at the Badukash bridge. The operation, they added, involved the use of both ground troops and helicopters.