Balochistan Liberation Front claims responsibility for landmine attack on Pak Army –

Militant organisation Balochistan Liberation Front has claimed responsibility for the improvised explosive device (IED) attack on a Pakistan Army convoy in Bolan district, Pakistan, in which six army personnel were killed.

The blast took place on Saturday near Sirajabad when the personnel of Frontier Corps was escorting the vehicle of an officer.

The security forces had begun a search operation to locate the perpetrators.

The attack came hours after an explosion took place near Pakistan’s Quetta Police Lines area in which at least five people were injured.

The blast took place near a stadium where Pakistan cricket stars, including captain Babar Azam and former skipper Shahid Afridi were playing in an exhibition match of Pakistani Super League (PSL) at the Nawab Akbar Bugti Stadium.

According to PTI news agency, the game was halted for some time following an explosion in the Police Lines area in Quetta.

Of late, Pakistan has been targeted by a wave of terrorist mostly in the country’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, apart from the restive Balochistan province and Punjab town of Mianwali.

The rise of attacks is being attributed to the breakdown of ceasefire negotiations with the Pakistani Taliban, or Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which seeks to impose extreme version of Sharia law in Pakistan.

TTP is responsible for various attacks in Pakistan since it was formed in around 2007. Their main target has been security forces, but civilians and other minority communities have also been attacked.

It is also responsible for the shooting of Nobel laureate and education campaigner Malala Yousafzai, who survived the attack.

Late last year, peace talks appeared to fail and the ceasefire TTP appeared to be honouring, ended.

(With inputs from agencies)

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