QUETTA: Just two days after a landmine blast in Sibi, a bomb attack on a security forces convoy left at least four Frontier Corps personnel martyred and 10 others injured in the Sangam area of the district on Tuesday.

The tragedy struck Sibi exactly a week after a suicide blast hit FC and police officials while they were wrapping up security arrangements following the departure of President Arif Alvi and other VVIPs from the area.

Officials said the FC convoy was on its way to Sibi when it was targeted in the Sangan area, some 180km from Quetta. Sources said miscreants had planted an improvised explosive device (IED) along the roadside. “It seems the IED was detonated by remote control,” a police officer said.

Sibi Assistant Commi­ss­ioner Sana Mahjbeen Umr­ani later confirmed that the FC convoy was “targeted with an IED”.

Security forces rushed to the site shortly after receiving information and cordo­ned off the entire area. The bodies and injured personnel of FC were moved to district hospital. Later, the inj­ured were admitted to Com­bined Military Hospital, Sibi.

The assistant commissioner said the condition of six injured personnel was serious.

A senior police officer of Sibi said the authorities were investigating the incident. Security forces launched a search operation in the area to trace out the elements involved in the IED blast, officials said.

Published in Dawn, March 16th, 2022