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• Four terrorists eliminated in Khuzdar operation, says ISPR
• Two FC men injured in Kalat grenade attack
• Suicide bomber strikes convoy near Kech
QUETTA: At least six people lost their lives in a powerful bomb explosion in the border town of Chaman, a suicide bomber targeted a convoy in Kech district, while security forces killed four militants in Khuzdar during an intelligence-based operation (IBO) on Thursday.
Separately, four people, including two Frontier Corps officials, were injured in a grenade attack and firing by unknown armed men in the Mangochar area of Kalat division late in the evening.
Officials said the Chaman blast ripped through a crowded taxi stand near the Pak-Afghan border in the evening, killing four people instantly and injuring two others. The wounded later succumbed to their injuries, raising the death toll to six.
“The explosion took place near makeshift shops,” Assistant Commissioner Chaman Imtiaz Baloch told Dawn. Police and Levies forces rushed to the scene and shifted the dead and injured to the district hospital.
“The blast left bodies mangled and body parts scattered,” eyewitness Asghar Achakzai, a local reporter, told Dawn by phone.
Police said initial investigations suggested explosives had been planted outside the shops at the taxi stand.
The Balochistan Home Department confirmed the casualties and ordered an inquiry into the incident.
It asked citizens to cooperate with investigation officials, stressing that the culprits would be brought to justice.
Kech suicide attack
Meanwhile, a convoy travelling from Gwadar to Turbat came under attack in the Dasht-i-Kuddan area of Kech district, around 60 kilometres from Turbat.
Officials said gunmen opened fire on the convoy before a suicide bomber rammed an explosive-laden pickup into one of the buses.
There was no official word from the local administration or Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) about the incident. It was not immediately clear whether anyone had been killed or injured.
The banned Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility for the attack.
Khuzdar operation
Separately, the military’s media wing said on Thursday that security forces killed four militants linked to the “Indian proxy” group Fitna al-Hindustan during an intelligence-based operation in Khuzdar.
“During the conduct of operation, own forces effectively engaged the terrorists’ location, and after an intense fire exchange, five Indian-sponsored terrorists were sent to hell,” the ISPR said in a statement. Weapons, ammunition and explosives were recovered from the site, it added.
“Sanitisation operation is being conducted to eliminate any other terrorist found in the area, as the security forces of Pakistan are determined to wipe out the menace of Indian-sponsored terrorism from the country, and reaffirm the nation’s unwavering resolve to bring the perpetrators of terrorism to justice,” the ISPR said.
Thursday’s attacks come amid a surge in militant activity across Balochistan.
Earlier this week, five militants were killed in Khuzdar. Last week, four militants were also killed during an IBO in Mastung, according to ISPR.
A day earlier, two police stations and a Levies post were targeted in Sherani district, leaving one policeman martyred and two Levies personnel injured.
Published in Dawn, September 19th, 2025
