On March 6th, 2023, a suicide bomber traveling on a motorcycle ran into a police truck intentionally in southwest Pakistan, on a bridge in the district of Sibi in Baluchistan. This accident ended up claiming the lives of 10 policemen and gravely wounding 12 officers. According to Pakistani officials, this is one of the most severe attacks on security officers in recent times.
What happened?
Initially, no one was held responsible for the attack. But now, with further investigation, Baluch separatists and local militants in the area have been held responsible for the tragedy. They have been fighting the government for many decades and have accused the government of misusing Baluchistan’s natural resources like mineral and organic gases.
According to a local police chief, Mahmood Notenzai, the officers who have been killed were on a regular check when the attack commenced. The injured were rushed to the nearby hospital, where many died.The army helicopter also shifted many of the gravely injured to a hospital in Quetta, where better facilities will be available to treat the officers The truck, which was transporting the troops, was also overturned after the blast, which ended up injuring many more.
According to Notenzai, the officers who were being deployed in that area were there to ensure tight security amid an annual cultural festival, which celebrates the commencement of summer.
The President of Pakistan, in a statement, has expressed remorse for the family of the lives lost and reproved the attack. He also added that this attack was one of the many criminal attacks which are being done to weaken Pakistan and has promised to take more steps to eradicate and put an end to terrorism.
What is Suicide Bombing?
Suicide Bombing involves a person or a group who brings along explosives with them to inflict harm and claiming the lives of many people. In that process, they also kill themselves. The people who are killed are innocent civilians, or in this case, police officers. These sorts of bombings are done to either make a statement against something or to target a specific political or military figure.
Other instances of Suicide Bombing in Pakistan.
This is not the first time such an incident is taking place in Pakistan. Last year, President Arif Alvi’s security convoy was targeted by a suicide bomber when the President was in attendance at the Sibi festival. That bombing claimed the life of 5 officers, the president was far away from the site of the actual bombing. The responsibility for that attack was later claimed by the IS militants.
Again in April of 2022, a Baloch woman suicide bomber, wearing a burqa, claimed the lives of four civilians on a minibus, which mostly had staff from Karachi University. The responsibility for this attack was claimed by the Balochistan Liberation Army.
Even this year, in the month of January, the lives of 59 people were lost in a suicide bombing that targeted a few police officers who went to offer their prayers in a mosque in Peshawar. According to police chief Muhammad Ijaz Khan, around 300 to 400 police officers were present in the area at the time of the bombing. This attack was also precisely timed to be at the start of a crucial week for Pakistani diplomacy.
Even the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres condemned the attack, and in a statement he remarked that is more painful as such an attack had taken place in a place of worship and peace.