Officials said a Balochistan Constabulary vehicle was targeted on Dasht Road in Mastung district on Tuesday morning, killing three policemen and injuring at least 16 others.
Militants in Balochistan, who were previously engaged in a low-level insurgency, have recently intensified their attacks. The outlawed Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) emerged as a major perpetrator of terrorism in Pakistan in 2024.
Balochistan government spokesman Mr. Shahid Rind said in a statement that the vehicle of the policemen returning from Kalat was targeted with an improvised (locally made) explosive device. He added that 16 others were injured in the blast, two of whom are in critical condition.
However, Mastung Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Younis Magsi put the number of injured at 18.
According to the DSP, all the injured personnel have been shifted to the hospital, while the seriously injured are being taken to Quetta, 50 km away from Mastung.
The spokesman said the Balochistan Constabulary personnel were deployed at the Balochistan National Party Mengal (BNP-M) sit-in.
The BNPM sit-in in Mastung against the arrests of Baloch activists entered its 19th day today. On the second day of their protest, BNP-M chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal and others escaped unhurt after a suicide blast near their rally.
According to DSP Magsi, the policemen were deployed with the Levies in the Kund Mas area of Mastung. He added that more than 40 policemen were returning from duty today when the police vehicle carrying them was targeted.
Magsi said that on a daily basis, our policemen return after performing their duty at the Mastung Police Lines.
Local administration official Raja Muhammad Akram also said that around 40 policemen were on board the bus at the time of the blast. He added that three policemen were martyred and 16 were injured in the roadside IED blast.
Emergency was imposed in Quetta’s Bolan Medical Complex Hospital and Civil Hospital following the incident.
The blast came a day after two terrorists were killed in an attack on an FC post in the Galangor area of Nushki.
Security forces also foiled an attack on a Levies post in the same district in which one terrorist was injured.
Pakistan ranks second in the Global Terrorism Index 2025, with the number of deaths in terrorist attacks increasing by 45% to 1,081 over the past year.
President Zardari also prayed for the speedy recovery of the injured and reiterated the nation’s resolve to eradicate terrorism.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif directed the authorities to provide immediate and proper medical assistance to the injured. Expressing his resolve to continue the war against terrorism, he said that we will thwart the nefarious designs of terrorists, who are enemies of humanity; our war against terrorism will continue until this scourge is completely eradicated from the country.
Chief Minister Balochistan Sarfaraz Bugti condemned the blast and directed that better medical assistance be provided to the injured.
In a statement, Sarfaraz Bugti said that no negligence in the treatment of the injured will be tolerated; the Balochistan government will stand shoulder to shoulder with the martyrs.
Last month, a suicide blast took place near the BNP-Mengal sit-in at Lak Pass. However, fortunately, no one was injured in the attack.
It should be noted that BNP chief Mengal has been staging a sit-in in the Lak Pass area of Mastung for two weeks. He has warned that the protest will continue until the arrested women are released.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) parliamentary leader Saleem Khoso and other party ministers have also tried to talk to Mengal and convince him to end the protest. However, Mengal is adamant about his stand.
