QUETTA: One man was killed and 10 others were injured in a grenade attack at the Quetta Railway Station on Wednesday, a senior police official confirmed.
While no group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far, such incidents are not uncommon in southwestern Balochistan province, a region bordering Iran and Afghanistan that has witnessed a decades-long low-level insurgency by separatist groups.
Earlier this week, suspected militants hurled hand grenades at a house and a store selling Pakistan’s national flags after the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) issued a warning to avoid such trade ahead of the country’s Independence Day on August 14. The attack killed three and injured six others.
Senior Superintendent of Police Muhammad Baloch told Arab News that unidentified individuals targeted people gathered at the Quetta Railway Station in the latest attack to view Independence Day decorations.
“According to initial reports, the attack was believed to have been carried out with a hand grenade, but it now appears to have been a UBGL [Under Barrel Grenade Launcher] attack, which has killed one man and injured 10 others, including three minor children,” he said, referring to the possible use of a grenade launcher mounted underneath the barrel of a rifle or similar firearm.
Waseem Baig, spokesman for the Civil Hospital Quetta, as confirmed that 10 people were treated for injuries at the medical facility.
People in Balochistan and other parts of Pakistan rely heavily on railway travel to visit relatives and friends in other cities during public holidays like August 14, leading to a surge in passenger numbers and unusually crowded stations.
Baloch separatist factions say they are fighting against what they see as unfair exploitation of the province’s wealth by the federation, though the Pakistani authorities deny the allegation and say they have launched several development projects for the well-being of the people.
One killed, 10 injured in grenade attack in Pakistan’s southwest on Independence Day
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One killed, 10 injured in grenade attack in Pakistan’s southwest on Independence Day
- Police say attack took place at Quetta Railway Station where people had gathered to see Aug. 14 decorations
- Such attacks are not uncommon in Balochistan province that has witnessed separatist violence for decades
Pakistan says nine militants killed in security operations in northwest
- The intelligence-based operations were conducted in Tank and Lakki Marwat districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
- Military says the counterterrorism campaign is being pursued under the framework of the National Action Plan
PESHAWAR: Security forces in Pakistan said on Saturday they killed nine militants belonging to the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in two intelligence-based operations in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Pakistan refers to fighters of the TTP, an umbrella group of various armed factions, as “khwarij,” a term from early Islamic history used to describe an extremist sect that rebelled against authority. The military also alleges the group receives arms and funding from the Indian government, a charge New Delhi denies.
The two operations were carried out on Dec. 5 in the volatile districts of Tank and Lakki Marwat, according to a statement from the military’s media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).
“On reported presence of khwarij, an intelligence-based operation was conducted by the Security Forces in Tank District,” the statement said. “During the conduct of operation, own troops effectively engaged the khwarij location and after an intense fire exchange, seven khwarij were sent to hell.”
“Another intelligence-based operation was conducted in Lakki Marwat District,” it added. “In ensuing fire exchange, two more khwarij were effectively neutralized by the security forces.”
ISPR said weapons and ammunition were recovered from the militants, whom it described as “Indian sponsored” and accused of involvement in attacks on security personnel, law enforcement agencies and civilians.
It said follow-up “sanitization operations” were under way as part of the country’s counterterrorism campaign under Azm-e-Istehkam, approved by the Federal Apex Committee of the National Action Plan, which aims to eliminate what it called foreign-supported militant threats in the country.
