Four policemen martyred in Quetta gun battle

QUETTA: Four policemen were martyred during an intelligence-based operation in Quetta on Tuesday.

The attack took place in the Kuchlak area near Quetta during a search operation launched following Monday’s bombing, Chief Minister Abdul Quddus Bizenjo said.

“The officers who were martyred during the encounter with the terrorists set an example of courage and bravery,” he said in a statement.

Zohaib Moshin, a senior superintendent of police (operations), said a terrorist who opened fire on policemen was also killed during the gun battle. “During the operation, law enforcement personnel surrounded a house in Kuchlak, from which the terrorists opened fire on the officers, resulting in the tragic loss of four of them,” Mohsin was quoted as saying.

The latest incident occurred a day after four people, including two police officers, were killed and 11 others were injured in a bomb explosion targeting a security forces vehicle on a busy street in Quetta on Monday.

Though no group has yet claimed responsibility for Monday’s blast, outlawed militant groups and fighters of the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), an umbrella organisation of various groups, have long targeted security forces throughout the province.