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PAKISTAN-UNREST-SOUTHWEST
At least 8 killed in suicide attack in southwest Pakistan
QUETTA, Pakistan, Feb 17, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – At least eight people —
including two police officers — were killed and several others wounded in a
suicide blast Monday in southwestern Pakistan, officials said.
The suicide attack took place in the southwestern city of Quetta in
Balochistan province, which remains rife with insurgent activity, senior
police official Abdul Razzaq Cheema told AFP.
The young suicide bomber was trying to enter a religious rally but police
intercepted him at a security barrier.
“As police were searching him, he detonated his vest, resulting in the
killing of eight people including two policemen, while injuring 23 others,”
Cheema said.
The toll was confirmed by a local hospital spokesman, Mohammad Waseem
Baig.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the blast.
The attack came the same day UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres — who
is in Pakistan on a three-day visit — praised the nation’s improved security
situation.
But Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest and poorest province — bordering
Afghanistan and Iran — remains home to Islamist, separatist and sectarian
insurgents, even as violent incidents have dropped elsewhere in Pakistan.
Militants still carry out attacks, including on major urban centres and
tightly guarded targets, and analysts have long warned Pakistan is yet to
tackle the root causes of extremism.
Balochistan is key to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, part of
Beijing’s regional Belt and Road infrastructure initiative.
The corridor seeks to connect China’s western province of Xinjiang with
Gwadar, giving Beijing access to the Arabian Sea.
BSS/AFP/BZC/2047HRS