QUETTA: Three people were killed and 30 others, including 20 cops, injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up near a truck carrying police officers for protection of polio workers near Quetta Wednesday.
According to police, the bomber rammed his vehicle into the police truck and detonated the explosives following which the police truck fell into a gorge. As a result, three people, including a polio worker, were killed and 30 others injured. Among the injured were 20 Balochistan constabulary cops. A four-year old girl and a woman were among the civilian casualties.
The explosion damaged a police truck and two other vehicles damaged. The injured were rushed to the nearby hospitals. A state of emergency was declared in Quetta hospitals. Preliminary police investigations showed that a rickshaw hit the police truck. The Bomb Disposal Squad and forensic officials gathered necessary evidence from the crime scene.
According to the police, 25kg explosives were used in the blast. The injured were being treated in Civil Hospital Quetta. According to international media, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) armed group, also known as the Pakistani Taliban, has claimed responsibility for this attack.
President Dr Arif Alvi, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah and Balochistan Chief Minister Abdul Quddus Bizenjo have strongly condemned the terrorist attack and expressed sympathies with the bereaved families.
President Dr Arif Alvi and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said such nefarious designs would not be allowed to harm the country’s commitment to eliminate the disease. They expressed their resolve to continue efforts till the complete end of polio.
President Alvi paid tribute to the efforts of health workers and police personnel for saving the children of the country from the crippling disease. He prayed for the forgiveness of the souls of the deceased and for the early recovery of the wounded.
PM Shehbaz Sharif said polio workers across the country were fulfilling their responsibilities without caring about their lives. He stressed that eliminating polio virus from the country was amongst the top priorities of the government and vowed not to rest until polio was completely eradicated. Balochistan Chief Minister Abdul Quddus Bizenjo pledged to counter the “cowardly act”. “All those involved in this incident and their facilitators will be brought under the law,” he added.