Security personnel among 11 killed in Pakistan attacks

PESHAWAR (Pajhwok): Nearly a dozen people, including security personnel, have been killed in different incidents of violence in Pakistan, officials say.

Three army officers and a soldier were killed and four others injured on Friday when a roadside bomb struck their vehicle near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in North Waziristan.

The Quick Response Force personnel were on a patrol in the Doga Macha Madakhel area of Dattakhel tehsil when the IED hit their vehicle, official sources said.

The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said a lieutenant colonel, a major, a captain and a lance havaldar were martyred, while four others suffered injuries.

The casualties were evacuated to a military hospital in the area. The security forces cordoned off the area and launched a search operation to trace the attackers.

In southwestern Balochistan province, five people, including a woman, were killed and 13 others injured in two separate explosions in Ziarat.

The victims of Friday’s blasts belonged to the Shia Hazara and Bohra communities who had gone for sightseeing to Ziarat from Quetta and Karachi. A man, his wife and their son were among the fatalities.

Local officials said the first blast took place inside the vehicle carrying members of the Bohra community to Ziarat.

The explosion occurred when the vehicle was on its way to the Kharwari Baba shrine. Three members of a family were killed on the spot. The injured were taken to the Trauma Centre in Quetta.

The second blast happened in the evening when a group of Shia Hazara community was returning to Quetta after spending the day in Ziarat valley.

The explosion hit the van they were travelling in near Kawas area, resulting in the death of two persons on the spot and injuries to nine others. The deceased were identified as Ali Sana and Habibullah.

Elsewhere in the province, two paramilitary Frontier Corps (FC) soldiers were martyred in a landmine blast in the Khost area of Harnai district.

An ISPR statement said terrorists targeted the FC troops when they were patrolling the Khost area for Eid security on the second day of the festival.

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