QUETTA: Three Balochistan Constabulary personnel were martyred in an attack on a checkpoint on Sariab Road on Sunday.

According to the police, the personnel were attacked by men on motor­cycles when they were sear­ching vehicles near Chaki Shahwani.

The attackers suddenly appeared and opened fire on the personnel, killing one of them and injuring two others.

A man selling watermelons near the spot was also severely injured.

Police and Frontier Corps personnel took the body and the injured to the Civil Hospital. The injured personnel died later in hospital, a police official said.

Police identified the victims as Ashiq Ali, Mehboob Ali and Ghulam Mustafa. Two of them belonged to Dera Allah Yar and Dera Murad Jamali.

The official incharge of the checkpoint, a soldier and a driver of the security force escaped unhurt in the attack.

“Four men on two motorbikes used automatic weapons in the attack,” Senior Superintendent of Police, Nasibullah Khan, said, adding that the attackers fled the scene after the crime.

Hospital sources said the victims were shot in the upper parts of their bodies.

The attackers fired 20 bullets from 9mm automatic pistols.

The bodies were sent to their native towns after funeral prayers in Quetta.

Balochistan police chief Ahsan Mehboob, Balochistan Constabulary Commandant Dr Mujeebur Rehman, Quetta police chief Abdul Razzaq Cheema and a large number of personnel of the FC and police attended the funeral along with other people.

Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Sanaullah Zehri sought a report on the incident from the inspector general of police within 24 hours. He condemned the targeted killing of the personnel and said the elements involved should be arrested immediately.

Expressing grief over the death of the security personnel, he said all resources would be utilised for arresting the attackers. “We will not bow down before terrorists and will continue efforts for restoring peace and order in the province,” Nawab Zehri said.

AFP adds: A spokesman for the Al Alami branch of the banned Lashkar-i-Jhangvi sent AFP a text message taking credit for the shooting.

The organisation has claimed joint responsibility, along with the militant Islamic State (IS) group, for several major attacks in the region, including one on lawyers in Quetta that left more than 70 people dead.

Sunday’s shooting came days after the IS said it had killed two Chinese citizens kidnapped last month by gunmen in Quetta. However, there was no immediate confirmation of the claim from Chinese or Pakistani officials.

Published in Dawn, June 12th, 2017