QUETTA: The spokesperson for Frontier Corps claimed that the alleged mastermind behind the attack on Quaid-e-Azam’s Ziarat residency was killed in a targeted raid carried out by the FC personnel in the Mach area of Balochistan’s Bolan district on Friday.

FC Spokesman Khan Wasey said three militants were killed by security forces including Mehmood alias Mama, the alleged mastermind of bombing the Quaid residency on June 15, 2013. The accused was also involved in ethnic killing in the province, he added.

Wasey said "the militants were also involved in the murder of a Hindu trader in the area". FC also recovered arms and ammunition from the possession of militants.

Militants had carried out a symbolic and audacious attack on Pakistan, its history and the federal structure when they blew up the Ziarat residency, the building in which the Quaid-i-Azam spent the last days of his life in 1948. The Balochistan Liberation Army had claimed responsibility for the strike.

The residency was later rebuild and brought back to its original glory by the government and was then inaugurated on August 14, 2014.

Separately, the Quetta police claimed to have foiled a terrorism bid by seizing 100 kilogrammes of explosives from the city’s suburbs on Friday, while three extortionists were killed by Frontier Corps in the Mach area of Bolan district.

Razaq Cheema, the Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Quetta, said police conducted a raid in Hazar Ganji area of the city and recovered 100 kilogrammes of explosives. "Terrorists had dumped explosive material at an empty place," Cheema stated.

He said police acted on intelligence reports and foiled a major bid of terrorism in the city, already plagued by terror acts.

The Quetta police chief, however, said that no arrest was made during the raid as the culprits had fled from the spot. “No arrest was made,” he said, adding that raids were being conducted to apprehend the culprits behind dumping of explosive materials.

Also read: Police, security forces seize 250 kilos of explosives in Quetta

The security official revealed that explosives and weapons were being brought to carry out subversive activities in the city. He said that anti terrorist force and police personnel participated in the raid conducted on intelligence reports.

Since the catastrophic attack on Peshawar's Army Public School on Dec 16, security forces in Balochistan have launched a crackdown against militants of banned organisations in different parts of the province.