World News

Three suicide attacks rock Pakistan's Quetta, killing 6 officers

A suicide bomber attacked Pakistani police and troops Tuesday, killing six officers and leaving at least eight others injured, authorities say.

Posted Updated

By
Syed Ali Shah
and
Sophia Saifi (CNN)
QUETTA, PAKISTAN (CNN) — A suicide bomber attacked Pakistani police and troops Tuesday, killing six officers and leaving at least eight others injured, authorities say.

The assailant targeted the police officers in the southwestern city of Quetta, ramming his explosive-laden motorcycle into a police van that was traveling to the airport, district police Superintendent Razzaq Cheema told CNN.

Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi strongly condemned the attack.

Earlier Tuesday, two other suicide attacks targeting police checkpoints took place on the outskirts of the city, injuring eight military personnel.

No one immediately claimed responsibility, according to Reuters.

Quetta is the largest city and provincial capital of Balochistan province, which has often seen unrest and violence.

Islamist militants with ties to the Taliban, al Qaeda and ISIS are known to operate in the province, Reuters reported.

Last December, a bomber targeted a church full of worshipers in Quetta, which left at least seven dead and wounding more than 20 others. A suicide attack in Lahore killed at least 14 people in March 2015, and suicide attacks on a church in Peshawar in 2013 killed more than 80 people.

Copyright 2024 by Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.