Daesh claims bombing in southwest Pakistan that killed five troops

QUETTA: The Daesh militant group claimed responsibility for an attack on a security convoy in southwestern Pakistan early Tuesday that killed at least five soldiers, according to a monitoring group. 
Pakistani police said the explosion in Balochistan province was caused by a roadside bomb but the claim of responsibility cites a Daesh suicide bomber as carrying out the attack, according to the US-based SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors militant messaging. 
The conflicting reports could not be immediately explained. 
According to the claim of responsibility, the attacker was a Pakistani national who “detonated his explosive vest amid a gathering of soldiers and policemen,” SITE said. 
Police said the attack in Sibi district also injured 28 people, mostly police officers. 
“Rescuers transported the dead and wounded to hospitals, where an emergency was declared,” the AP news agency quoted a local police official, Wazir Marri, as saying. “Some of [the] wounded were in critical condition.” 
Local media said the bombing happened near an open area where an annual cultural show was being held. Earlier in the day, Pakistan’s President Arif Alvi attended the festival. The targeted convoy was part of the security deployment surrounding Alvi’s visit. The bombing took place hours after he had left the area. 
It was the second attack in less than a week claimed by the militant group’s regional affiliate known as Daesh in Khorasan Province, headquartered in neighboring Afghanistan. 
Last week, a Daesh suicide bomber targeted a Shiite mosque during Friday prayers in the northwestern city of Peshawar, killing 63 worshippers and wounding nearly 200. 
Separately, the Pakistani military said it had killed seven militants in an intelligence-based operation in Gorchop area of Balochistan’s Turbat district. 
“Once the troops started clearance operation in the area, terrorists tried to escape from their camp and opened indiscriminate fire onto security forces,” the Pakistani military’s media wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), said in a statement. 
“Seven terrorists, including commanders Hasil Doda and Washdil, have been killed in ensuing heavy exchange of fire. These terrorists were involved in recent firing and attacks on security forces in Makran Division.” 
Balochistan has been the scene of a long-running insurgency by various Baloch separatist groups that for decades have waged attacks on security forces and police to press their demands for independence. 
Although authorities say they have quelled the insurgency, violence has continued in the province. Local militants and Daesh also have a presence there.