QUETTA: Four policemen were killed in an attack on their van in Pashtoonabad area here on Thursday.

It was the second attack on police force in a week in the area. Four policemen were killed there five days ago. And five people belonging to the Shia Hazara community were gunned down on Sunday in an attack on a shop near Bacha Khan Chowk not far from here.

According to official sources, a police party was chasing a suspect when four gunmen opened fire at their van near Mannan Chowk. A policeman left the van and tried to engage the assailants. But he was hit by several bullets and died.

The police personnel who died on the spot were identified as Assistant Sub Inspector Mohammad Wazir, constables Zahir Khan and Mehmood Khan and driver Kalimullah.

“The killing of eight policemen in a week is part of a plan hatched by enemies against the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor,” IG Amlish Khan said. But such attacks, he added, could not detract the police force from the fight against terrorism.

Quetta police chief Abdul Razzak Cheema said that 33 suspects arrested after the June 6 killing of four policemen had divulged some information which would help police to lay hands on the terrorist group behind the two attacks.

He said that there would be some changes in the security plan, including the use of motorcycles by patrol teams.

The funeral prayers of the policemen were held in the police lines mosque and were attended by Balochistan Home Minister Mir Sarfaraz Ahmed Bugti and police officers Amlish Khan and Razzak Cheema.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Dr Abdul Malik Baloch has called for a report from the IG and the provincial home secretary and directed them to bring the perpetrators of the two attacks to book.

Published in Dawn, June 12th, 2015

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