4 police officers and AIG killed in suicide attack in Pakistan

A suspected suicide bomber today killed an Additional Inspector General and three other police officers in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province, officials said, in the latest targeted attack on security forces in the restive region.

The blast targeted the vehicle of Additional Inspector General (AIG) Telecommunications Hamid Shakeel who was passing through a residential area in the provincial capital Quetta.

Shakeel was killed along with two police officials while six others, including three officers, were injured, police said.

One of the wounded officers later succumbed to his injuries in the hospital, taking the toll to



four.

Hours after the attack, the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for the attack, media reports said.

The TV footage showed that the vehicle was badly damaged in the attack.

Shakeel has served as Deputy Inspector General (DIG) operations, acting DIG investigations and AIG operations, as well as holding a number of other key posts.

The injured have been shifted to Combined Military Hospital (CMH) and Civil Hospital in Quetta, police said, adding that the initial probe showed that it was a suicide bombing.

The area has been cordoned off and a search operation has been launched in the surrounding areas.