A bomb attack near a vehicle carrying Pakistani paramilitary troops in the southwestern province of Baluchistan killed a soldier and injured 11 people, mostly civilians, police and security officials said on Monday.
The Pakistani Taliban have claimed responsibility for the attack, which took place on Sunday.
Pakistan has been fighting an insurgency in Baluchistan for more than a decade, with separatists in the province demanding complete autonomy or a larger share of the province’s mineral and gas resources.
Outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan – or TTP as the Pakistani Taliban are known – and other militants also have a presence in the province, which borders Iran and Afghanistan.
Sunday’s attack took place near the Musa Khan checkpoint in Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province, local police official Mohammad Khan said. He did not provide further details.
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Members of a civil society group take part in a rally during a prayer ceremony for the victims of Monday’s suicide bombing in Peshawar, in Lahore, Pakistan February 4, 2023. (AP Photo/KM Chaudary)
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Shortly after the bombing, the Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility, saying the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber. Police and security officials have not confirmed the origin of the explosion.
The latest incident comes a week after a suicide bomber killed 101 people at a mosque in the northwestern city of Peshawar, drawing nationwide condemnation and prompting Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif to call a meeting of opposition politicians and of its allies to discuss how to respond to the surge in militant violence.
The conference was originally scheduled for Tuesday but was postponed to Thursday.
Pakistani officials have accused the TTP, which runs shelters in neighboring Afghanistan, of orchestrating the Peshawar bombing. The TTP denied involvement. The militant group, however, has stepped up its attacks since November when it ended the ceasefire with the Islamabad government.
Sharif invited his predecessor and opposition leader Imran Khan to talks on Thursday, but Khan has not yet confirmed his participation.
After the Peshawar attack, members of civil society groups staged demonstrations across the country, holding prayer ceremonies for the victims and calling on the government to take action to curb the wave of militant attacks.
