Quetta: A bomb blast targeting a security convoy in the Mangochar area of Kalat district injured eight people, including six security personnel, on Monday.
According to official sources, the attack took place on the Quetta-Karachi National Highway, where a convoy of 29 trucks was transporting blaster copper from the Saindak copper and gold project to Karachi. As the convoy passed near the Nadra office in Mangochar, an improvised explosive device (IED) planted along the road detonated, striking a security vehicle belonging to the Frontier Corps (FC).
The explosion was followed by a fierce exchange of gunfire between security forces and unidentified assailants. The clash continued for some time, during which six FC personnel and a civilian truck driver sustained injuries. The injured were promptly taken to the district hospital in Kalat for medical treatment.
A senior official from the Kalat administration confirmed that no Chinese nationals were present in the convoy at the time of the attack. After the explosion, traffic on the highway was suspended for security reasons but was later restored following clearance operations.
An official from Metallurgical Corporation of China’s subsidiary MRDL, which has been operating the Saindak copper-gold project for over two decades, verified the incident. He added that two individuals, including a truck driver, were wounded in the ensuing gunfire and were moved to Civil Hospital in Quetta.
In a separate overnight incident on the Quetta-Sibi Highway, an armed clash between security forces and militants led to the death of one more injured civilian on Monday, bringing the total fatalities from the exchange of fire to two. Three others were wounded in the confrontation.
SSP Kachhi, Muhammad Dilawar Rana, stated that security measures have been heightened in the area, and traffic, which had been temporarily suspended, is now flowing normally.
