QUETTA: A security guard laid down his life while foiling a suicide attack near Hazara Town on Friday night as the bomber blew himself up.

Chief of Army Staff Gen Raheel Sharif and Balochistan Chief Minister Dr Malik Baloch paid tribute to the guard and said he had saved a large number of lives through his sacrifice.

*Know more: Suicide blast at Quetta's Brewery road kills two*

According to police, Talib Hussain, a guard of a private security company, was on duty at the entrance of the Railway Employees Housing Society on Brewery Road when he saw a suspicious person wearing a veil entering the area. He tried to capture the suspect but the latter blew himself up.

The guard lost his life in the blast, said a police officer, Abdul Waheed.

He said the bomber intended to enter Hazara Town through a small gate of the housing society to hit a shopping area.

The powerful explosion rocked the city and windowpanes of several buildings were smashed.

Heavy contingents of police and Frontier Corps personnel took the bodies to hospital and security was tightened in and around the provincial capital.

Last year, a suicide attack in Hazara Town on the eve of Eid left six people dead and several others injured.

Published in Dawn, July 21st, 2015

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