4 killed in targeted attack in Pak

At least four people were killed and 15 others injured today in a targeted attack on security forces in Pakistan's Balochistan province, officials said, the latest attack on security personnel in the restive region.

The attackers targeted a security forces' vehicle on Sariab Road area in the provincial capital Quetta, police officials said.

Four people were killed but their identity is not known, they said.

The nature of the bombing was not known immediately, but police suspected that it could be a suicide attack.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack but Taliban militants and Baloch nationalists often target security forces in the area.
 

A senior Pakistani police officer and his three family members were killed by unidentified, motorcycle-borne militants in Balochistan on November 15.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Muhammad Illyas who was on his way to market when he was killed in a targeted attack along with his wife, son and five-year-old granddaughter.

A suspected suicide bomber killed Additional Inspector General Telecommunications Hamid Shakeel and three other police officers in a targeted attack in Quetta on November 9.

Balochistan has been rocked by a series of attacks which raised concerns about a growing militant presence, including those affiliated with Islamic State, which has claimed several bombings in the restive province.

The unrest has raised security concerns for projects in the USD 50 billion China Pakistan Economic Corridor, a transport and energy link from western China to Pakistan's southern Gwadar port.

At least six police commandos and a civilian were killed last month when an explosives-laden vehicle rammed into a security force's convoy on the Quetta-Sibi Highway.

In August this year, a massive suicide explosion, targeting Pakistan Army personnel in Quetta, left 15 people dead including seven civilians and injured at least 20 people.

In June this year, 14 people, including seven policemen, were killed and 21 others were injured in a suicide car bombing on Gulistan Road in Balochistan.