Terrorists Make Third Deadly Attack in Balochistan, Pakistan in a Week

May 14, 2019 (EIRNS)—The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for a bomb attack in Quetta, Balochistan on May 13, killing 4 policemen and wounding 10 other people. Quetta City police chief Abdur Razzaq Cheema said a powerful bomb was attached to a motorcycle. This is the third terror attack in Balochistan within a week. The attack occurred near a mosque when people were assembling for prayers, and shortly after a police van arrived at the site to provide security to the people offering prayers at the mosque.

On May 12, the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) released a video message following their deadly May 11 attack against a hotel in Gwadar port where 40 Chinese were staying; none was hurt. The terrorists in the video warn China:

“Baloch youth has time and again warned China to immediately stop its exploitation of Baloch land. But China has failed to take notice of our genuine concerns. China is using Baloch land to further its evil designs and in doing so it is aiding Pakistan to brutally suppress Baloch civilians.”

They charge that China and Pakistan suppression come from building the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a major early project on the Belt and Road Initiative that extends from Kashi in west China through Balochistan Province to Gwadar on the Gulf of Oman.

Pakistan and Iran have been cooperating in suppressing this terrorism. A border “reaction force” was created following the visit of Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan to Iran last month. During that visit Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani told a joint press conference on April 22 that he and Prime Minister Khan “agreed to create a joint rapid reaction force at the borders for combatting terrorism.”