2 injured in grenade attack on Quetta security checkpoint: police

Two bystanders were injured on Sunday in a grenade attack on a security checkpoint in Quetta’s Chaman Phattak area, according to a senior police official.

Superintendent of Police (City) Azhar Shah told Dawn.com that the injured were taken to Civil Hospital, adding that police and CTD cordoned off the area and launched an investigation.

Preliminary investigation revealed that the suspects threw a grenade at the checkpost, but it fell outside and exploded. SP Shah also told Dawn.com that Safe City cameras are being employed to trace the suspects.

Balochistan Health Department Spokesman Dr Waseem Baig confirmed that both the victims, Osama and Ghulam Hussain, were out of danger and receiving medical aid.

Last week, at least 50 people, including 14 security men, lost their lives in different parts of Balochistan as dozens of militants affiliated with the banned Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) — a separatist outfit — went on a rampage across the province, storming police stations, blowing up railway tracks, and setting fire to almost three dozen vehicles.

In subsequent operations, the armed forces’ media wing said 21 militants were neutralised by the security forces as Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi vowed to crush terrorism in the province.

In Musakhail, a district on the border with Punjab, the militants shot dead 23 people after checking their identity documents.

“We found 23 bullet-riddled bodies lying by a roadside,” Ayub Achakzai, Musakhail SSP told Dawn. He added that among the dead bodies, a person who was shot in the legs was rescued.

In Kalat, militants attacked a Levies station, two hotels, and the residence of a tribal elder besides setting alight a toll plaza on the national highway.

In the exchange of fire, 11 people, including four Levies officials and a police sub-inspector, lost their lives whereas nine people, including Kalat Assistant Commissioner Aftab Lasi, were injured.

In Bolan’s Kolpur area, six bodies were recovered. Security officials believed they were also shot dead by militants.