Friday, July 5, 2013

Nine killed; 19 injured in Chaman blast


CHAMAN: At least nine people, including six Afghan officials, were killed and 19 others injured on Friday in a suicide attack that took place at the Pak-Afghan border in the Chaman region of Balochistan.
Pakistani security officials, who did not want to be named, told a private channel that the suicide bomber blew himself while targeting the vehicle of Afghan border forces.
"Our forces miraculously survived since the blast happened at Friendship Gate at Pak-Afghan border", the source said.
Meanwhile, Afghan security officials told private channel that Afghan border commander Akhtar Muhammad was the intended target of the suicide attack. However,

the sources said that Muhammad survived the attack.
The condition of five of the injured persons was stated to be serious and they were rushed to Quetta's bordering town of Chaman for medical treatment.
Frontier Corps sources, however, said that some Pakistanis were also among the injured.
Pak-Afghan border was immediately closed after the blast.
Later, FC persons were called at the border to control the situation. Moreover, security was tightened on both sides of the border to avert another untoward incident.
Chaman is a small town in the southwestern province of Balochistan and is one of the two main crossing points for supplies for American and Nato troops fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Balochistan, which borders Iran and Afghanistan, suffers from a local separatist insurgency. Apart from a long-running nationalist movement, there has also been an alarming rise in sectarian terrorism in the province recently, with ethnic and religious minorities often targeted by militants.
In related news, three persons were arrested during a search operation carried out by security forces in Killi Nasaran in the Kuchlak region of Quetta.
During the operation, security forces seized a large quantity of explosive materials, manufactured bombs and suicide jackets.
Security forces said the arrested persons included a suicide bomber who was preparing for an attack on Quetta.
The arrested were said to belong to an extremist organisation.

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