Pakistan: Nine Security Officers Killed in Suicide Attack

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Facts

• According to authorities in Pakistan's southwestern Baluchistan province, a suicide bomber attacked a truck transporting police personnel on Monday, killing at least nine and wounding 13 others.¹
• The officers were reportedly returning to the provincial capital of Quetta after policing a festival. Pictures from the scene depict a crushed and overturned police truck.²
• Senior police official Abdul Hai Aamir told reporters that the attacker, who was riding a motorcycle, rammed his vehicle into the back of the truck before detonating the explosives.³
• The Tehreek-e-Jihad Pakistan (TJP), a newly formed militant group reportedly seeking to “establish an Islamic system in Pakistan” via “armed Jihad,” claimed responsibility for the blast. However, Pakistan’s interior ministry hasn't yet confirmed the TJP's responsibility.⁴
• Though the TJP claimed responsibility, Baloch nationalists and separatists have been waging an insurgency in the region against the government for decades, accusing it of exploiting Baluchistan's rich gas and mineral resources.⁵
• Pakistan's security situation has worsened in the last year. The Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP), an armed Islamist group associated with the Afghan Taliban, has upped its attacks against government forces after the breakdown of talks in November. Last month, a TTP attack killed five people in a police compound in Karachi after a bombing at a police mosque in Peshawar killed more than 80 officers in January.³

Sources: ¹Voa, ²BBC News, ³Dw.com, ⁴CNN and ⁵Reuters.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by The dispatch. In a cruel twist of fate, Pakistan is under threat from groups they once vocally supported in their fight against the US. Afghanistan has failed to take steps against militants, and Pakistan is helpless against insurgents launching attacks from their Taliban-controlled neighbor. They have reaped what they've sown regarding support for rogue terror groups. More innocent civilians are being victimized as a result of this foreign policy blunder.
• Narrative B, as provided by Indianexpress. The situation with Afghanistan, and their support or indifference to attacks originating from their country, is a reality that cannot be wished away. It would be foolish to disengage with Kabul over the security situation, as it's clear that a solution can only come from cooperation between the two nations. Pakistan will continue the fight against insurgents the best it can. While there is disappointment that Afghanistan is not taking measures against militant groups, Pakistan's fight is against terrorism, not Afghanistan.