TTP terrorists kill four policemen in Pakistan's southwest
The policemen were killed in a gunbattle with Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan terrorists in the country's southwestern city of Quetta, hours after four people died in two roadside bomb blasts in the same city.
Terrorists identified by police as being from the Pakistani Taliban opened fire on a pre-dawn patrol in Kuchlak, officials said, and were still on the run.
Pakistani security forces raided a suspected hideout of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in the southwestern city of Quetta, triggering a shootout that killed four officers and a commander of the group, officials have said.
The police launched the raid after being tipped off that the wanted TTP commander was hiding in a home in the city's Kuchlak neighbourhood, said police official Naveed Shah on Tuesday.
The officers demanded the suspect surrender but he instead opened fire at the security forces, killing four officers before being fatally shot.
A search of the area was still underway, Shah said.
Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan, has seen a spike in violence recently, as has the rest of Pakistan.
Violence on rise
On Monday, two roadside bombs hours apart targeted police vehicles in Quetta, killing four people and wounding 22, mostly pedestrians.
The bombings were claimed by the outlawed Balochistan Liberation Army, which was designated a terrorist group by the United States in 2019.
Pakistani security forces have been battling an insurgency in Balochistan for more than a decade, with separatists in the province demanding complete autonomy or a larger share of the province’s gas and mineral resources.
The Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan or TTP, also have a presence in Balochistan and have claimed multiple past attacks there.
The terrorist group is separate from but allied with the Afghan Taliban.
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