Cop among 5 killed in armed attack on Shafiq Mengal's Khuzdar camp

QUETTA, Pakistan - A deadly armed assault targeted a camp of PPP leader Mir Shafiqur Rehman Mengal in Balochistan's Khuzdar district, resulting in the deaths of five individuals, including a police officer, and leaving Obaidullah, a hospital worker, with bullet injuries. Police SHO Abdulfateh disclosed that the incident occurred in the Aranji area of Khuzdar's Wadh tehsil, situated near the Quetta-Karachi highway.

Mengal, a prominent tribal figure and head of the Jhalawan Awami Panel, was absent from the camp during the attack. According to the SHO, a group of armed men on motorbikes arrived at the scene, initiating the attack by firing upon a security checkpost of Mengal's camp. The assailants swiftly killed four security guards, abducted the policeman, subsequently executed him, and disposed of his body before making their escape.

The victims identified as Abdul Hayee, Naimatullah, Yahya, Naseer Ahmed, and Constable Noor Muhammad. The assailant responsible for Obaidullah's injuries was not specified. Emergency services arrived at the site, transferring the bodies and the injured individual to the district hospital. A search operation ensued to locate the perpetrators, though no group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

In July, a similar suicide bombing at Mengal's residence in Khuzdar claimed at least 17 lives, leaving over two dozen others injured.