QUETTA: A security official was martyred and four others sustained injuries in an improvised explosive device (IED) explosion near a vehicle carrying security personnel to the Iskalku area of Kalat district on Tuesday, officials said on Tuesday.

The vehicle was hit while en route to Iskalku, where militants had attacked two Frontier Corps posts a few days earlier. The posts were set up to guard the oil and gas exploration site of a petroleum company.

“An improvised explosive device was planted along the roadside and detonated as the security personnel passed through the area,” a local administration official stated. The blast resulted in the martyrdom of one soldier and injuries to four others.

Following the explosion, Frontier Corps and other forces rushed to the scene and shifted the body and the injured to Kalat District Hospital.

The martyred soldier was identified as Naik Shafqat. The injured include Naik Shah Nawaz, Sepoy Bashir Ahmed, Sepoy Owais Ahmed and Sepoy Mohammad Afzal.

“It appears to be a targeted attack,” a security official said, adding that further investigation is underway.

In Quetta, a senior officer of the Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) was shot dead on Tuesday.

Police said Munir Ahmed Lehri, the deputy director of SSGC, was travelling in his car on Mano-Jan Road when unknown gunmen opened fire, killing him on the spot.

“The SSGC officer sustained multiple bullet wounds and succumbed to his injuries before reaching the hospital,” police officials stated. The attackers, who used automatic weapons, fled the scene.

Police and emergency responders rushed to the site and shifted the body to the hospital. The motive for the killing remains unclear.

Published in Dawn, July 3rd, 2024