QUETTA: A Frontier Corps man was martyred and four others were injured in a suicide attack carried out by a woman on a convoy near Kalat on Monday, officials said.

The attack came a day after Chief Minister Mir Sarfraz Bugti expressed alarm over the security situation prevailing in the province.

Officials said the suicide blast took place when the FC convoy was passing through the Mughalzai area.

“An FC soldier was martyred and four others were wounded in the attack carried out by a female suicide bomber,” Kalat Dep­uty Commissioner Bilal Shabbir confirmed, adding that soon after the attack security forces and police cordoned off the area and shifted the body and the injured to hospital.

The banned Baloch Liberation Army (BLA-Azad) claimed responsibility for the assault.

Reports said the targeted FC vehicle was badly damaged in the attack, but other vehicles in the convoy remained safe.

“An FC commandant travelling in the convoy also escaped unhurt in the suicide attack,” a senior security official said.

Sources said the FC convoy was on its way to a mess from the FC fort in Kalat area.

Police and CTD officials started investigation into the incident while security forces launched a search operation to trace out the elements involved in the attack.

The martyred FC soldier was identified as Lance Naik Attaullah while the injured were sepoys Wakeel, Zahid, Abbas and Mushtaq. The condition of one of the injured is stated to be serious.

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi paid homage to the martyr and extended condolences to the bereaved family. CM Bugti said terrorism and cowardly acts could not affect the province’s peace and stability.

Earlier on Sunday, CM Bugti while talking to the media in Quetta expressed alarm over the security situation in Balochistan.

He said the rise in acts of terrorism is the result of the previous government’s policy of appeasement of militant groups like the banned TTP, noting that several Taliban ‘commanders’ released during Imran Khan’s tenure had re-established their camps.

Admitting that the security situation in Balochistan is alarming, the chief minister pledged that terrorists will not be allowed to control even an inch of land of the province.

He said that the influx of weapons from Afghanistan after the US withdrawal had exacerbated the situation in Balochistan, with terrorists now using thermal technology to carry out attacks from up to two kilometres away.

The CM, however, expressed the confidence that his government would soon bring acts of terrorism under control through smart strategies, emphasising the need for increased federal government’s support to enhance the capacity of law-enforcement agencies.

He also mentioned plans to upgrade security in “B Areas” to “A Areas” to improve governance and security. He announced that an Apex Committee meeting has been called for Tuesday (today) to formulate a strategy, and underperforming deputy commissioners will be replaced immediately.

Missing persons’ issue

Discussing the issue of missing persons, Mr Bugti described it as highly complex, suggesting that some groups involved in forcibly blocking roads might be behind disappearances of people to put pressure on the provincial government.

Published in Dawn, March 4th, 2025