Suicide bomber targets political protest in southwest Pakistan

Suicide bomber targets a political protest rally in Balochistan, Pakistan. No civilian casualties reported; the attacker was killed.

A suspected suicide bomber attempted to attack a political protest in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province on Saturday, according to a local official.

“The bomber detonated near the protest rally, but there are no reports of civilian casualties so far—only the attacker was killed,” a police control room official in Mastung district told Anadolu over the phone.

The official stated that the bomber had targeted a rally led by Balochistan National Party chief and nationalist leader Sardar Akhtar Mengal near the Lak Pass area in Mastung. Mengal was unharmed.

On Thursday, eight passengers lost their lives in two separate incidents in the province. Earlier, four labourers from Punjab were shot dead in Kalat district, while four police officers were killed in Noshki.

No group has claimed responsibility for the latest attack, although the banned Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) has been behind similar assaults in the past.

The mineral-rich province has endured a low-level insurgency for years, with BLA militants escalating their attacks in recent weeks.

Earlier this month, the group hijacked a passenger train in the Bolan region, killing 31 people, including five paramilitary personnel. Security forces responded with a day-long operation, eliminating 33 suspected militants.

Separatist factions have long fought for Balochistan’s “liberation,” arguing that the region was forcibly annexed into Pakistan in 1947 following the end of British colonial rule.

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