Six people, including five Levies Force personnel, were injured on Monday in a remote-controlled bomb blast targeting the convoy of Kech Deputy Commissioner (DC) Major (retd) Bashir Barech in Turbat, Balochistan, police said.
According to Kech Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Captain (retd) Zohaib Mohsin, the explosion occurred on Press Club Road. “The bomb was planted on a motorcycle and detonated remotely as the DC’s convoy passed through the area,” he said.
Five Levies personnel and a passerby sustained injuries in the blast, while DC Barech remained unhurt. Police officials added that the explosion damaged the bulletproof vehicle carrying the DC, which also bore bullet marks, indicating possible gunfire after the blast.
Following the incident, security forces cordoned off the area and launched a search operation to trace the perpetrators. Authorities believe it was a targeted attack on the district administration’s convoy.
The incident comes shortly after Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi announced that bulletproof vehicles originally allocated to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) would be redirected to Balochistan. The move followed KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi’s decision to decline the vehicles, prompting Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti to request their reassignment due to rising militant threats.
Naqvi said the vehicles would be sent immediately to enhance counterterrorism operations in Balochistan, while CM Bugti stated that the province urgently needed them to strengthen security for administrative officials and law enforcement personnel.
Over the past few months, attacks and kidnappings targeting administrative officers in Balochistan have surged. In May, Additional Deputy Commissioner Hidayatullah Baloidi was killed in a militant attack in Surab. In August last year, Deputy Commissioner Panjgur Zakir Baloch was shot dead in Mastung after failing to stop at a militant checkpoint.
On June 4 this year, Assistant Commissioner Muhammad Hanif Noorzai was abducted from Turbat’s Tump area and released after several months in captivity. However, Assistant Commissioner Muhammad Afzal, who was kidnapped from Ziarat on August 10, remains missing.
