Security personnel and emergency services gather at the site of a deadly car bomb blast outside the Frontier Corps headquarters in Quetta, Pakistan. Image: The Australian.
(The Post News) – A fatal car bomb blast in Quetta killed 10 individuals and wounded more than 30 on Tuesday as militants tried to target the Frontier Corps headquarters on Zarghoon Road. Six of the assailants were shot dead by security forces as they got out of the car and began firing before causing a massive explosion, officials said.
Eyewitnesses described the scenes of destruction as the explosion rocked the whole neighborhood. “The explosion shattered my home windows and rattled the whole building,” one neighbor in the vicinity, Mohammad Usman, said.
Ambulances rushed to the site, ferrying dozens of injured civilians and paramilitary soldiers to neighbouring hospitals. Provincial Health Minister Bakhat Kakar confirmed the deaths, stating that it could rise further as some of the injured are critical.
Gun Battle After Explosion
CCTV cameras recorded the attackers’ vehicle stopping at the compound entrance before the blast. Quetta Soldiers opened fire indiscriminately on militants before they were, in turn, killed by six attackers.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi welcomed the decisiveness of the response of the security forces. “Our soldiers repelled the attackers and saved the compound from further destruction,” he said.
President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the Quetta attack, assuring that Pakistan will continue to wage war against terrorism. Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti condemned the attack as well.
“Terrorists cannot break the will of our nation,” Bugti stated. “Their acts of cowardice will not deter us from bringing peace and prosperity to Balochistan.”
Insurgency in Balochistan
It is the second suicide attack this month near Quetta after 13 people were killed in a political rally. Balochistan, which has been plagued by insurgency, is repeatedly attacked by separatist groups such as the banned Baloch Liberation Army (BLA). They target security personnel, civilians, and Chinese workers on multi-billion-dollar projects under China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
No one took responsibility for the Quetta attacks, but separatist rebels remain the prime suspects, experts maintain. “Escalation in violence seems to be a reaction to counter-insurgency operations,” said security expert Muhammad Arif.
Balochistan, which contains deposits of gas, copper, and gold, remains Pakistan’s poorest province. Residents complain Islamabad and Beijing are getting rich from natural resources without sharing anything with local people, which fuels separatist anger.
The province’s remoteness makes security enforcement and militant activity challenging. Tuesday’s attack, nonetheless, highlighted that the insurgency remains a thorn in Pakistan’s stability and foreign investment projects.
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