An explosion targeting a police bus in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province killed at least three officers and wounded 16 others on Tuesday, authorities said.
An explosion targeting a police bus in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province killed at least three officers and wounded 16 others on Tuesday, authorities said.
The bus was carrying around 40 police officers when it was hit by the blast in Mastung district, around 40 kilometres (25 miles) south of the provincial capital Quetta, local administration official Raja Muhammad Akram told AFP.
"It was a roadside IED (improvised explosive device) blast that resulted in the deaths of three policemen while wounding 16 others," Akram said.
Pakistan has been battling a separatist insurgency in Balochistan for decades, where militants target state forces, foreign nationals, and non-locals in the mineral-rich southwestern province bordering Afghanistan and Iran.
Shahid Rind, a spokesperson for the provincial government, confirmed the death toll while adding that two of the officers were in critical condition.
No group has claimed the attack. However, the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) is the most active group in the region and often carries out deadly attacks against security forces.
Last month, ethnic Baloch separatists attacked a train with 450 passengers on board, sparking a two-day siege during which dozens of people were killed.
More than 200 people, mostly security officials, have been killed in attacks since the start of the year by armed groups fighting the government in both Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, according to an AFP tally.
Last year was the deadliest year in a decade in Pakistan, following a trend of rising militancy since the Taliban took power in Afghanistan in 2021.
© Agence France-Presse
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