Journalism of Courage
At least 15 people, mostly security officials, were killed and over 10 others injured today as a Taliban suicide bomber blew himself up outside a polio vaccination centre in restive Balochistan’s capital Quetta, the latest attack on the anti-polio campaign in the country.
The blast ripped through a police van outside the vaccination centre as security officials gathered there to escort polio workers for the third day of a vaccination campaign in Balochistan.
Rescue workers and crime scene investigators inspect the site of the suicide bomb attack in Quetta, Pakistan, January 13, 2016. (REUTERS)
An intelligence official confirmed that it was a suicide attack. “Body pieces of the suicide bomber have been collected by security agencies to initiate a probe into the incident,” an official was quoted as saying by the Dawn.
The deceased include 12 policemen, one paramilitary offcier and two civilians, a police official said.
Crime scene investigators collect evidence from the site. (REUTERS)
The Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed the attack on Facebook and in an email sent to journalists.
Wednesday was the third day of a three-day anti-polio campaign which was launched in Quetta and other districts of Balochistan on Monday. The campaign in Quetta was temporarily suspended following the blast.
Rescue workers collect evidence from the site of the attack. (REUTERS)
Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Police Quetta Syed ImtiazShah said seven to eight kilogramme of explosives were used in the blast. Eyewitnesses at the site said they heard firing after a loud blast rocked the area. The glass windows of nearby buildings shattered due to intensity of the blast. The injured have been shifted to Civil Hospital Quetta, where an emergency has been imposed. (REUTERS)
Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan are the only two countries in the world where polio remains endemic, according to the World Health Organisation.
Polio workers have long been targeted in the country by Islamist groups including the Taliban militants which claim that the polio immunisation drive is a front for espionage or a conspiracy to sterilise Muslims. (REUTERS)
