Afghanistan Times
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KABUL — The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for a deadly bombing that struck a police vehicle in Pakistan’s restive Balochistan province, killing three policemen and injuring at least 15 others.
The attack occurred Tuesday in Mastung city, where a bomb rigged to a parked motorcycle detonated as a bus transporting around 40 police officers passed by. The powerful explosion ripped through the vehicle, killing three officers on the spot and leaving others critically wounded.
In a statement released late Tuesday, the regional branch of the jihadist group, Islamic State Khorasan (IS-K), claimed its “soldiers” carried out the attack, labeling the police personnel as “apostates.” IS-K has repeatedly targeted security forces in both Pakistan and Afghanistan, and this latest assault highlights the growing reach and resilience of the militant group.
Security officials cordoned off the area following the blast, and emergency services rushed the wounded to nearby hospitals. Authorities are investigating how the explosives were planted and detonated without detection.
Balochistan has long grappled with overlapping insurgencies — including separatist, sectarian, and jihadist violence. Last month, ethnic Baloch militants launched a deadly attack on a passenger train in the province, sparking a two-day standoff that left dozens dead.
Since the Taliban’s return to power in neighboring Afghanistan in 2021, Pakistan has seen a surge in militant activity along its western frontier. Islamabad has accused Kabul of providing safe haven to militant groups — a claim vehemently denied by the Afghan Taliban.
According to an AFP tally, more than 200 people, most of them security personnel, have been killed in militant attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces since the beginning of the year.
This attack underscores the ongoing security challenges facing Pakistan’s law enforcement and the precarious situation in the country’s border regions.
