Suicide Bombing Rocks Pakistan: Actors Hit Police Trucks with Motorcycles, Ten People Killed

Illustration of police lines. (Wikimedia Commons/Tony Webster)

JAKARTA - A suicide bomber rammed a motorbike into a police truck in southwest Pakistan on Monday, killing ten policemen, a police official said.

Spokesman Mehmood Khan Notizai told Reuters the attack took place in Sibbi, a town about 160 km (100 miles) east of Quetta, capital of Balochistan province, as quoted on March 6.

Hospital officials said at least seven policemen were injured in the attack, the latest attack targeting police personnel in Pakistan.

Meanwhile, quoting The Washington Post, Notizai said officers were conducting routine patrols when the attack occurred. At first it killed nine people. Meanwhile, the injured were taken to a nearby hospital, where one of the policemen who was seriously injured later died, he added.

Army helicopters were then dispatched to evacuate the seriously injured to hospitals in Quetta, where better medical facilities were available.

Notizai said the officer who was attacked was deployed last week to Sibi, where an annual cultural festival is being held amid tight security.

Last year, a suicide bomber from the Islamic State group targeted President Arif Alvi's security convoy while attending the Sibi festival. President Alvi was far from the site of the bombing that killed five soldiers. The ISIS militant later claimed responsibility for the attack.

Separately, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif condemned the attack. In a statement, he offered his condolences to the families of those killed and ordered health workers to provide the best medical care for the injured policemen.

He said the attack was part of an evil enemy's plan to destabilize Pakistan and vowed to defeat terrorism.

So far, no group has claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing.

However, ethnic Baloch rebels who have fought the government for decades, have been accused of similar attacks before. They are known to accuse the government of exploiting Balochistan's rich gas and mineral resources.