9 POLICEMEN KILLED AFTER SUICIDE BOMBER RAMS MOTORCYCLE INTO CONSTABULARY VAN IN PAKISTAN

Kachhi Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Mahmood Notezai confirmed the casualties to media.

“The constabulary van was on its way back to Quetta from Sibi when an explosion occurred on the Kambri bridge in the area bordering the Sibi and Kachhi districts,” he said.

According to the official, a motorcyclist — believed to be the suicide bomber — rammed his vehicle into the police van. However, he said the exact nature of the attack will be ascertained after investigation.

SSP Notezai said the injured persons have been moved to the Sibi Civil Hospital, while bomb disposal squads and security personnel have arrived at the site.

Hospital officials said at least seven policemen were wounded in the attack, the latest in a series targeting security personnel in Pakistan.

The area has been cordoned off and a search operation is underway, he added.

A government helicopter has been sent to Bolan to move the injured persons to Quetta, a statement issued by the Balochistan Information Department said.

An emergency has also been imposed at hospitals across Quetta.

Al Jazeera’s Kamal Hyder, reporting from Islamabad, said investigators are looking into the nature of the explosion.

“This is not the first time that the police or the paramilitary forces or the regular regular military forces have been targeted in Balochistan,” he added.

Ethnic Baloch armed groups have been fighting the government for decades, accusing it of exploiting Balochistan’s rich gas and mineral resources.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the incident as well and paid tribute to the valour of the martyred policemen, APP quoted the premier’s press release as saying.

He said terrorism in Balochistan was part of a nefarious design to create instability in the country and promised to free the country from the menace of terrorism.