An attack claimed by the domestic chapter of the Taliban killed three people and injured 23 on Wednesday when a suicide bomber targeted a police truck in western Pakistan, an official said.
Senior police official Azhar Mehesar told AFP the blast targeted a police team preparing to escort polio vaccinators in Quetta and that those killed “include a policeman, a woman, and a child.” In a statement to AFP, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack and said it would soon share further details.
The Pakistan Taliban — known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) — are separate from the Taliban in Afghanistan but share a common hard-line Islamist ideology. The group was founded in 2007 by Pakistani jihadists who fought alongside the Taliban in Afghanistan in the 1990s before opposing Islamabad’s support for American intervention there after 9/11.
On Monday, the group announced an end to a shaky cease-fire with Islamabad declared over the summer and ordered nationwide attacks to resume.
Senior police official Azhar Mehesar told AFP the blast targeted a police team preparing to escort polio vaccinators in Quetta and that those killed “include a policeman, a woman, and a child.” In a statement to AFP, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack and said it would soon share further details.
The Pakistan Taliban — known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) — are separate from the Taliban in Afghanistan but share a common hard-line Islamist ideology. The group was founded in 2007 by Pakistani jihadists who fought alongside the Taliban in Afghanistan in the 1990s before opposing Islamabad’s support for American intervention there after 9/11.
On Monday, the group announced an end to a shaky cease-fire with Islamabad declared over the summer and ordered nationwide attacks to resume.
