Islamabad: Three suicide bombers attacked a police training centre in Pakistan's restive southwestern Balochistan province on Wednesday, triggering a shootout that killed security personnel and the attackers, police said. Four police personnel were injured in the attack that took place when the policemen were busy taking an examination and the assailants ambushed the main gate of the Police Lines area in Balochistan's Loralai district. However, nobody has claimed responsibility for the attack but Baloch nationalists and Taliban rebels often carry out such strikes against the security forces.

The Pakistan Army, in a statement, said that one attacker was killed on the gate while two succeeded to enter the building. "The suicide bombers were effectively singled out by the police at the main gate. One suicide bomber was killed by a police guard at the entry point, while two others managed to get inside the premises,? the statement said.

"In exchange of fire, one (of the remaining) suicide bomber exploded himself and the other was killed by security forces," the army said, adding that a police head constable was also killed in the exchange of fire. Soldiers of the Frontier Corps have cordoned the area off, it said.

Mohsin Hassan Butt, Balochistan Inspector General of Police, told the media that the attackers were wearing suicide vests. The injured policemen have been shifted to hospital, the Dawn reported. The process of clearing the area has begun and security has been beefed up in and around Loralai in the aftermath of the attack.

Condemning the attack, Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan Alyani said, "the police force fought bravely against the terrorists. The swift and effective action taken by the police today shows that our security agencies are well prepared."

Loralai has witnessed a rise in terror attacks in the past few months. On January 30, terrorists attacked a police recruitment centre in the area, killing nine policemen and injuring 21 people. On January 1, terrorists attacked the training centre of the Frontier Corps in the cantonment area of Loralai. The armed forces shot dead 4 attackers and 4 security personnel were killed while resisting them at the entrance of the training centre. </s> One suicide bomber was killed at the gate, while two others were killed inside the premises by security forces.

Islamabad (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News – 26th June, 2019) At least one policeman was killed while two others were wounded as three suicide bombers attacked police installation in Loralai, Balochistan.

Security sources said that one suicide bomber was killed at the gate, while two others were killed inside the premises by security forces.

The operation has now been concluded.

Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) in its statement said that of the two bombers who entered the facility, one was killed and the other blew himself up in an exchange of fire with security forces.

The terrorists stormed the police lines where the B-One examination for police inductions was underway.

Earlier in January, three armed suicide bombers attempted to enter the DIG police office compound in Loralai where the candidates were present for enrolment in Balochistan Police.

The policemen on duty responded and shot one of the bombers at the entry of DIG complex, who blew himself up. The other two bombers started indiscriminate firing and got into one of the side rooms. As a result nine persons, including three policemen, five civil employees of police and one civilian candidate embraced 'Shahadat' (martyrdom), while 21 others, including 12 policemen and nine civilian candidates got injured.

Frontier Corps (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.

Around 800 candidates present in the compound for enrolment in police were safely evacuated by the security forces. </s> One policeman and three suicide bombers were killed in an attack on a police station in Pakistan’s Balochistan province on Wednesday.

The attack took place in the morning when three suicide bombers tried to enter the police station in the Loralai city, the media wing of Pakistan’s armed forces, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), said in a statement.

While one attacker was shot dead by the police at the entrance to the complex, other two managed to enter the centre, Geo News reported. “In the exchange of fire one suicide bomber (of the remaining two) exploded himself and the other was killed by security forces,” the ISPR said.

One policeman was killed and two other officers were wounded in the attack.

A police recruitment centre in the same city was attacked in January claiming 12 lives and wounding 21 others.

Balochistan, the largest and least populated state of Pakistan, has witnessed frequent attacks by separatist groups, armed Islamist forces and organised crime networks, making it one of the nation’s most unstable and insecure regions. In July last year, 149 people were killed in an attack in the province during a poll-related rally. It was one of the worst attacks in the history of the Asian country. </s> Karachi: At least two policemen were killed in a roadside blast in the troubled Balochistan province while 13 people were injured in two separate suicide bombings during Eid prayers on Tuesday targeting minority Shias in Pakistan's relatively peaceful southern Sindh province.

Two police officials were killed and 10 other injured in a blast near a police training centre on Quetta's Sariab road when militants targeted a police patrol vehicle in the area, police said.

Also, four suicide attackers infiltrated Shikarpur district's Khanpur tehsil, 470 kilometres north of Karachi, police said.

Two of the attackers targeted an Eid prayer ground where one assailant blew himself up, injuring 10 people, two of whom were policemen. The other attacker managed to flee, they said.

Two other suicide bombers targeted a Shia mosque but they were stopped at the entrance by policemen, which led to one of them blowing himself up while the other was arrested. Three policemen were injured in the attack, one of whom was critical. Last year, at least 61 people were killed in a suicide attack on a mosque in the district.

"Alert" policemen at the venues prevented huge casualties, police officer Beherdin Kehrio told reporters. "If the policemen had not prevented these suicide bombers from entering the prayer venues there would have been largescale casualties because of the large gathering because of Eid prayers," he said.

He said the attackers at the Shia mosque were stopped by policemen as they looked suspicious and when confronted one of them detonated himself. "The other attacker was brought down and arrested," he added.

Those injured in the blast have been admitted to hospitals in Shikarpur for treatment. No group has immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

Pakistan has been frequently hit by sectarian violence in recent years, most of them perpetrated by hardline Sunni Muslim groups against minority Shia Muslims. However, Sindh is considered a relatively peaceful of Pakistan's four provinces and is highly influenced by Sufi doctrines and principles. </s> RAWALPINDI: Three terrorists were killed after an attack on the Police Lines area in Balochistan’s Loralai district, ISPR said Wednesday. “Three suicide bombers attempted to target police. The suicide bombers were effectively checked by the police at the entry gate. One suicide bomber was killed by the police at entry point while two others managed to get inside Police Line and were killed,” it added. During the exchange of fire, one suicide bomber blew himself up while the other was killed by security forces. Constable Allah Nawaz was martyred while two others were wounded. </s> PESHAWAR, Pakistan — A group of suicide bombers with grenades and assault rifles struck outside a courthouse in northwestern Pakistan on Tuesday, killing six people in an attack claimed by a Taliban splinter group.

The attack was the latest in a wave of militant assaults across the troubled country that has killed over 100 people since last week. The brazen suicide bombings have been claimed by mutiple Islamic militant groups.

In Tuesday’s attack, three attackers hit the courthouse in the town of Tangi in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, bordering Afghanistan. The victims included a lawyer, a child and four police officers, according to Ijaz Khan, a senior police officer.

He said police were on maximum alert after receiving intelligence that terrorists could target the courts in Charsadda. One of the bombers threw grenades and detonated his suicide vest at the court’s main gate while police shot and killed the two other assailants, according to the district police chief, Sohail Khalid.

The other two also wore suicide vests but did not manage to set them off before being gunned down.

Khalid said 15 people were wounded in the attack and taken to hospital.

Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a breakaway faction of the Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility in a text message sent to an Associated Press reporter.

In one of the attacks last week, dozens of worshippers gathered at a famed Sufi shrine were killed Thursday when an Islamic State suicide bomber detonated his device inside the shrine’s main hall in the southern province of Sindh. The death toll from that attack has reached 90.

The shrine bombing prompted a countrywide crackdown by security forces targeting militants and their hideouts.

Pakistan’s army chief, Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa praised police for foiling the attack and “saving many lives,” according to the military statement.

Mian Saqib Nisar, the chief justice of Pakistan, strongly condemned the attack in a statement and expressed his condolences for families of those who lost loved ones.

In a latest development, Zafar Iqbal Jhagra, governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, told reporters that fresh talks with the militants cannot be ruled out. “Talks can be held with everyone, including the Taliban,” he said.

But he maintained that, “We will not bow before the terrorists.”

Pakistan has been at war with Islamic militants for more than a decade. In recent years, it severed peace talks and launched an ongoing offensive against militant strongholds in the tribal regions along the Afghan border, but insurgents have continued to carry out attacks around the country. </s> Suicide bombers attacked a court complex in Pakistan on Tuesday, killing at least four people, officials said, in the latest incident in a new surge of Islamist violence.A spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban's Jamaat-ur-Ahrar faction claimed responsibility for the attack in the northwestern town of Charsadda.The district administration said at least four people were killed. A witness told Reuters he had seen "many" dead bodies at the scene.A string of bombings in Pakistan over the past 10 days has killed more than 100 people.Town resident Mohammad Shah Baz told Reuters he was inside the judicial complex when the suicide bombers stormed it."I escaped towards the canteen and climbed the wall to save my life. But there were many people dead and injured," he said.District police chief Sohail Khalid said at least one of the attackers blew himself up and another opened fire at the main entrance of the court compound before they were shot and killed.Jamaat-ur-Ahrar spokesman Asad Mansoor claimed responsibility the attack in a message to journalists. He said fighting was still going on at the court. </s> Seven die at Pakistan court as three suicide bombers attack

At least seven people were killed when multiple Taliban suicide bombers attacked a court complex in northern Pakistan Tuesday, the latest in a series of assaults which have raised fears militants are regrouping.

One bomber was briefly on the loose inside the busy complex in the Tangi area of Charsadda district but was killed by police some 20 minutes after the attack began, officials said.

A second bomber was shot dead by security forces and a third died when he detonated his vest outside the main gates of the facility in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, according to police.

The attack was claimed by the Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (JuA) faction of the Pakistani Taliban, which carried out a series of apparently coordinated assaults last week including a powerful bomb blast in Lahore which killed 14 people.

Earlier this month the group vowed a fresh offensive on targets in Pakistan including the judiciary.

“So far seven people have been killed and 15 wounded,” Suhail Khalid, district police chief, told AFP, adding that a lawyer was among the dead.

“We are a steadfast nation and will not be deterred by such attacks. Our government will continue to fight against terrorist elements and we will succeed,” a statement said.

The three attackers had opened fire on police and thrown grenades as they tried to battle their way into the complex, Khalid said.

“Bomb disposal experts told us that each bomber was wearing seven to eight kilogrammes of explosives,” he told reporters.

Hundreds of people including lawyers, judges and citizens normally attend the court complex.

An AFP reporter at the scene said the area was littered with human remains, while a pile of law books stained with blood and riddled with bullets lay strewn outside an office.

Police scoured the area for evidence as military helicopters whirred overhead. An old man whose four-year-old grandson died in the attack wept.

Another man who witnessed the attack, Muhammad Hussain, said he was about to enter the complex when he heard the blast.

“When I looked up I saw three armed men, hurling grenades and opening fire,” said the 35-year-old civil servant, adding he sought shelter in a nearby police barracks from where he heard the gunbattle.

“This continued for some minutes and then I heard another big bang. Some minutes after a policemen told me that it’s all over.”

Lawyers and the judiciary are frequent targets in Pakistan. Among last week’s assaults was a bomb blast targeting a van carrying judges in Peshawar, which killed their driver.

Last August JuA along with the Islamic State group claimed a suicide bombing in Quetta that killed 73 people, including many of the southwestern city’s legal community.

Police and troops had been on high alert in Pakistan after last week’s wave of attacks, which killed more than 100 people.

Most, including the Lahore bomb, were claimed by JuA, a faction of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP, or Pakistani Taliban) group.

But the Islamic State group claimed the deadliest of last week’s assaults, a suicide bomb at a Sufi shrine in Sindh province on Thursday which killed 90 people and wounded hundreds.

The emergence of IS and a TTP resurgence would be a major blow to Pakistan, which had enjoyed a dramatic improvement in security over the past two years after a military-led crackdown begun in 2014.

Islamabad launched a violent crackdown in the wake of the recent attacks, saying it killed dozens of “terrorists” and carried out strikes on militant hideouts along the border with Afghanistan. Hundreds of families have been displaced by the firing on both sides of the border, according to officials. </s> QUETTA, Pakistan (Reuters) - A police constable was killed and five people injured in Pakistan on Wednesday, following a gun battle with Taliban militants at a police housing and training complex, security officials said.

Three militants wearing suicide vests attempted to storm the complex in the restive southwestern province of Baluchistan when confronted by guards at the entrance.

“Police personnel deployed at the gate killed one of the suicide bombers,” senior police officer Abdul Rehman Luni told Reuters.

“The other two blew themselves up inside the police complex,” he said, adding that a senior constable was killed in the attack, and five wounded people were taken to hospital.

The attack was claimed by the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, also known as the Pakistani Taliban, in a statement sent to journalists.

Military cordoned off the area after the attack.

The walled complex comprises police residences and training facilities and is heavily guarded in a province where attacks on security officials are common.

Islamist militant groups and separatists fighting the central government are active in mineral-rich Baluchistan, with frequent attacks on gas and transport infrastructure and security posts.

Baluchistan’s coastal city of Gwadar is a strategic port on the Arabian Sea that is being developed as part of the $60-billion China Pakistan Economic Corridor, part of China’s Belt and Road infrastructure project.

In May, gunmen from the Balochistan Liberation Army insurgent group dressed as military officers stormed a luxury five-star hotel in Gwadar, killing three security guards, an employee, and a naval official in the ensuing gunbattle.
In Pakistan three suicide bombers attempted to storm a police housing complex in the southern Balochistan province. One of them was killed by guards, while the two others entered and blew themselves up, killing a senior constable and wounding five others. The Pakistani Taliban has claimed responsibility (Reuters)