QUETTA, Pakistan: Militant group Daesh claimed responsibility for the weekend bombing that killed two police officials in restive southwestern Pakistan, officials said Monday.

Analysts say the latest violence is a sign of increasing coordination between militants and separatists who for years have been targeting security forces and civilians in the oil-and gas-rich Balochistan province bordering Iran and Afghanistan.

Daesh said in a statement on Sunday that it detonated an explosive device a day earlier targeting a Pakistani police vehicle in Kuchlak town near Quetta, the capital of Balochistan. Pakistani officials say the attack killed two officers and wounded two others on a highway.

The Balochistan Liberation Army has previously claimed such attacks, but Daesh has carried out similar attacks in recent months.

BLA last month killed dozens of people in gun and suicide attacks on passenger buses, police stations and military facilities.

Abdullah Khan, a senior defense analyst and managing director of the Islamabad-based Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies, told The Associated Press that the latest claim by Daesh indicates that BLA and militants are now working together on attacks in Balochistan and elsewhere in the northwest.

Balochistan is the scene of a long-running insurgency, with an array of separatist groups staging attacks mainly on security forces. The separatists demand independence from the central government.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday announced the launch of a national initiative to promote organ donation across the country, state media reported, which would feature special logos on National Identity Cards for voluntary donors. 

The prime minister’s statement came on the occasion of ‘International Identity Day,’ which is marked annually on Sept. 16. This global initiative seeks to sensitize governments and nations around the world about the responsible adoption of legal identity.

“Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif has announced the launch of a national initiative aimed at promoting organ donation and to save human lives,” state broadcaster Radio Pakistan said. 

Sharif said individuals who voluntarily register themselves as organ donors will have a special logo printed on their National Identity Cards, adding that organ donation is a “profound act of kindness” that can give a new lease on life to those in need.

“He urged to work collectively toward building a more inclusive world where every individual’s rights are recognized and respected,” the state media said. 

An organ transplant is usually performed when any organ of a person has stopped functioning properly, leading to severe limitation in regular activities and a high likelihood of early death.

Organs or tissues for transplantation may be obtained either from a living or a deceased person. A living person may donate from paired organs such as kidneys, or a piece from the organ such as the liver. Blood, bone marrow, skin or bones may also be donated by living donors. 

Multiple organs and tissues may be obtained from a deceased person including kidneys, liver, pancreas, heart, lung and intestine and other tissues.

Pakistan ranks eighth in kidney diseases worldwide, causing 20,000 deaths every year where more than 20 million people suffer from renal disease, according to the not-for-profit hospital The Kidney Center. Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) is rapidly growing in Pakistan owing to factors such as late diagnosis, kidney stone disease, diabetes and high blood pressure.