Three cops among nine martyred in Loralai attack

QUETTA: Nine people, including three policemen, five civilian employees of police and one civilian candidate, embraced martyrdom in a gun and suicide attack on the office of the deputy inspector general of police in Loralai district of Balochistan on Tuesday.

At least 21 other people, including 12 policemen and nine civilians, also sustained injuries in the attack, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said. All the three attackers were also killed.

The ISPR said three armed suicide bombers tried to enter the DIG police compound in Loralai. About 800 candidates were present in the compound for enrolment in Balochistan Police at the time of the attack. The police on duty responded and shot one of the three suicide bombers at the entry of the DIG complex who detonated his suicide jacket. The remaining two attackers started indiscriminate firing and got into one side of a room.

The FC Balochistan and Army troops were called in. During the clearance operation, the remaining two suicide bombers were shot dead and the area was cleared. Those who lost their lives in the attack included three police constables, two gardeners, one washerman, one cook, a class IV police employee as well as one civilian. The injured were shifted to the CMH, Quetta, on army helicopters.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Imran Khan condemned the attack and said there was no room for terrorists or their facilitators in Pakistan.

The prime minister praised the swift response of the security forces to minimise damages in the Lolarali terrorist attack. He also prayed for the martyred and those injured in the attack.

Imran Khan said the morale of Pakistan Army, police and the nation was high. “The state will fulfill its responsibility wherever terrorist elements try to raise their head,” he emphasised. Meanwhile, Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan Alyani condemned the cowardly attack on the Deputy Inspector General (DIG) office in Loralai while police were conducting interviews for recruitment into the force.

He expressed grief over the loss of precious lives and ordered immediate arrest of all the elements involved in the cowardly terrorist attack on the DIG s office, said a press release issued here.

The chief minister said nefarious designs and cowardly attack of terrorists could not weaken the strong commitment and passion of the police and security forces, it added. He ordered the health department to ensure all facilities to the injured and prayed for early recovery of victims.