KHUZDAR: Two police officers lost their lives and another two were critically injured when a magnetic bomb attached to their vehicle exploded in Khuzdar on Saturday.

Police officials said the bomb exploded when the vehicle was on patrol near Jhalawan Complex.

“It was a magnetic bomb that had been attached to the police vehicle by unidentified people and detonated with a remote control,” Fahad Khosa, Khuzdar’s senior superintendent of police, told Dawn.

The driver of the vehicle lost his life on the spot while three cops were injured, one of whom later died in the hospital.

Deputy Inspector General of Police Kalat Range, Pervaiz Khan Umrani, and Khuzdar Deputy Commissioner Ilyas Kibzai rushed to the site along with police and Frontier Corps officials soon after the blast.

Security forces cordoned off the area and shifted the body and injured to the Khuzdar district hospital.

The deceased police officers were identified as Din Muhammad and Abdul Salam. The injured cops include Saddam and Abdul Latif.

Security forces have launched a search operation in and around Khuzdar town to trace the elements involved in the bomb attack.

Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo has condemned the blast and directed the authorities to take all possible steps to arrest the culprits.

He directed officials that the injured police officers should be given the best medical treatment.

Published in Dawn, February 26th, 2023