QUETTA, Sept 23: Three police personnel and three civilians were killed and eight others injured in a bomb attack in the Saranan area of Pishin district on Monday.

The bomb went off when a police van was on routine patrol on the Quetta-Chaman highway near Sanger village.

“The bomb was planted underneath the police van. The dead included a police officer,” District Police Officer Mehboob Rasheed said.

“The police van was patrolling the highway and the bomb exploded when it stopped to check a suspected vehicle coming from Chaman,” he said.

The injured were taken to Civil Hospital, Quetta.

The DPO said three policemen and two civilians died on the spot and another civilian succumbed to injuries in hospital.

Five of the dead were identified as Mohammad Asghar, Bahadur Khan, Khan Mohammad, Mohammad Hashim and Mohammad Behram.

Law-enforcement agencies personnel cordoned off the area to search for assailants but no arrest was reported till late in night.

The Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for the attack.

“We attacked the police in Pashin today,” TTP spokesman Shahidullah Shahid told Mashaal radio from an undisclosed location.

AFP adds: The DPO said the blast wounded five people, including passengers of a mini-bus.

A senior local administration official, Zahid bin Maqsood, confirmed the incident and the casualties.