QUETTA: Four police personnel were shot dead on the Munir Mengal Road here on Thursday.

“It was a targeted attack on police personnel,” said a senior police officer. The victims belonged to the Falcon Force of Balochistan police.

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

Police and FC personnel have raided different areas in the city and arrested 48 suspects.

Sources said that the four personnel were patrolling the Satellite Town where they stopped at a small petrol pump. They were attacked by three men. Two personnel died on the spot and the two others were seriously injured, who were taken to the CMH where they succumbed to the injuries.

Police said the assailants had taken away the official weapons of the personnel. Poli­ce officer Zahoor Ahmed Afridi quoted witnesses as saying that at least 25 shots had been fired at the personnel who were identified as Abdul Nafey, Inyat­ullah, Muham­mad Sadiq and Muham­mad Ismail.

The fun­eral prayers were offered in Police Lines.

Published in Dawn, January 29th, 2016