Suicide blast in POB, near Paki Occupation Forces HQ in Quetta kills 10
More than 30 people injured in a huge explosion outside a security installation in the capital of southwestern province of Balochistan.
A powerful car bomb blast outside the HQ of paramilitary Frontier Corps of Pakistan’s Occupation Forces in the Paki Occupied Balochistan’s ( POB ) city of Quetta has killed at least 10 people and wounded more than 30 others, Paki authorities said.
The explosion, swiftly followed by heavy gunfire, tore through the vicinity of Zarghoon Road in Quetta, capital of Occupied Balochistan, on Tuesday.
“Two Paki law enforcement personnel were killed while the rest of the dead were civilians,” Bakht Muhammad Kakar, the POB health minister, told Al Jazeera.
A security camera video posted on social media showed a vehicle turning towards the regional headquarters of the Frontier Corps and exploding within seconds.
Naresh Kumar, a witness, said he was standing outside his office close to the targeted building when the explosion took place. “My mind just went blank. I got hit by shards of glasses in my arm and back. The explosion was just massive,” Kumar told Al Jazeera.
Inam, another injured person who only gave his first name, was brought to the hospital where he was treated for wounds after glass shards injured his back due to the explosion.
“Our office is right around the paramilitary building. We were working in our office when the explosion totally rocked us and then everything went dark. I could hear firing which lasted for a while before the law enforcement arrived to take control,” he told Al Jazeera via telephone from the hospital.
Rescue workers carry a victim’s body to hospital after the car bombing in Quetta
POB Chief Minister Mir Sarfraz Bugti condemned the incident, labelling it a “terrorist attack”. Speaking after the blast, Bugti confirmed that at least four attackers were killed by the security personnel.
Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari issued a strong condemnation over the attack, saying, “The misguided extremists were acting on India’s agenda.” He did not give details.
India has not yet responded to the baseless allegation. No Baloch Liberation group has claimed responsibility for the bombing.
Security officials examine damaged vehicles at the site of the bombing in Quetta
Balochistan’s economic significance
Pakistan Occupied Balochistan is most sparsely populated country. Home to about 15 million Baloch people, the country was forcibly occupied by Paki military in 1948. Balochistan remains the poorest region despite possessing vast reserves of oil, coal, gold, copper, and gas. While these resources contribute substantially to the revenues of the Paki government, the Baloch people themselves face extreme economic hardships.
Balochistan is also home to Gwadar, a strategic deep-sea port which is the centrepiece of $60bn China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project designed to establish a trade link between southwestern China and the Arabian Sea.
However, Chinese investments, particularly in Balochistan, have fuelled resentment in the Baloch people. Residents accuse Chinese firms of “stealing local resources” and this sentiment has repeatedly driven local armed groups to attack Chinese personnel and installations.
Balochistan also has the Reko Diq reserves, which are said to contain the world’s fifth-largest copper deposits.
Canadian firm Barrick Mining has been operating at the site since 2022.
Earlier this month, Pakistan also signed a $500m deal with a United States-based firm to export critical minerals and rare earth elements. Thus Pakis have been systematically looting the occupied country.
Injured victims of the blast receive treatment at a hospital in Quetta
The local resentments have given a boost to the Liberation movement going on for decades, which aims to regain full independence for Balochistan, as it was in 1948.
As violence escalates in the POB, analysts have questioned the Pakistan’s ability in eliminating the armed liberation groups such as the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) or the Baloch Liberation Front (BLF).
Muhammad Arif, an expert on international relations, said the demography of Balochistan is complex for both the Liberation groups as well as the Paki Occupation Government as he pointed out a logistical challenge inherent in the region’s topography.
It is not possible for “non-state actors “ to take control of the region of Balochistan with its vast, difficult terrain, but at the same time, retaining control of each and every corner of the Occupied Country is difficult for the same reasons.
Arif suggested that a recent surge in violence could be linked to the Paki Occupation Forces counter-insurgency operations.
“It is believed that the Baloch Liberation Army and other groups have suffered heavy casualties in the last couple of weeks, with the Pakistani Occupation forces helped by Chinese communication equipment along with drones and Pakistani jet fighters. [Tuesday’s] attack could be a retaliation move,” the Quetta-based analyst told Al Jazeera.
