Pakistan: TTP claims responsibility for suicide attack in Quetta

Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a proscribed organization, has claimed responsibility for a suicide blast in Pakistan's Quetta on Sunday, which killed three people and injured 20 others. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan condemned the attack on a paramilitary force check post in Quetta. Dawn newspaper reported that banned TTP claimed responsibility for the attack.

"Condemn the TTP suicide attack on FC check-post, Mastung Road, Quetta. My condolences go to the families of the martyrs & prayers for the recovery of the injured. Salute our security forces & their sacrifices to keep us safe by thwarting foreign-backed terrorists' designs," Imran Khan tweeted. The Balochistan Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) confirmed the suicide attack had targeted the Sohana Khan check-post at Mastung Road.

The injured were shifted to the Sheikh Zaid hospital, confirmed police. Police said the suicide bomber had rammed his motorcycle into the vehicle of a law enforcement agency at the check post. On Saturday, Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid had said that the issue of the TTP is one that the Imran Khan government must resolve, not Afghanistan.

"The issue of the TTP is one that Pakistan will have to deal with, not Afghanistan. It is up to Pakistan, and Pakistani Ulemas and religious figures, not the Taliban, to decide on the legitimacy or illegitimacy of their war and to formulate a strategy in response," said Mujahid, in an interview with Geo News. In recent months, fighting between the Pakistan security forces and Baloch insurgents has intensified in the region. Balochistan is a resource-rich but least developed province of Pakistan where a movement for freedom has been ongoing for the past several decades.