Pakistani Police Officer Killed, Two Other People Wounded In Balochistan Blast

Pakistani officials say a blast has hit a police van in the southwestern Pakistani province of Balochistan, killing an officer and wounding three other people.

The initial investigation into the April 28 explosion has established that it was caused by a remote-control bomb, according to Qilla Abdullah district’s deputy commissioner, Tariq Javed Mengal.

“The bomb was planted in a motorbike and as the police van passed, it blew up,” Mengal said, adding that two civilians were among those wounded.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, which took place as Prime Minister Imran Khan was in Quetta on a daylong visit.

Qilla Abdullah is located around 75 kilometers north of the provincial capital, Quetta.

The resource-rich Balochistan Province, which borders Afghanistan and Iran, has been plagued by sectarian violence, attacks by Islamist militants, and a separatist insurgency that has caused thousands of casualties since 2004.

On April 21, a bomb blast killed five people and wounded 12 others in the parking area of a luxury hotel in Quetta. The Tehrik-e Taliban (TTP) group, known as the Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it sought to target officials.