Daesh booming in Pakistan

It has been repeatedly claimed that Islamic State (IS), also known as the Daesh terrorist group has faced considerable losses in recent years, but not enough to permanently prevent the group from resurging.

In a latest move, a Daesh suicide bomber killed nine Pakistani police officers and wounded over 13 others. The bombing comes on Monday after a Daesh suicide bomber on a motorcycle rammed a police truck in the country’s restive southwest Baluchistan, in one of the deadliest attacks on security forces in 2023.

Immediately after the attack, many had thought that the Baluchistan-based separatist group, which is a small group, had likely carried out the attack. The group had been blamed for previous such attacks but this time they were not behind the bombing.

Pakistan has been battling a decades-long insurgency by both Baluchistan group and Pakistani Taliban known as TTP and the bombing targeted a police van some 120 kilometers southeast of Quetta in Baluchistan. Photos of the aftermath showed the van turned upside down on the road with its windows shattered and a rescue team arrived on the scene.

This time it was Daesh

Late on Monday night, IS claimed responsibility for the attack. The group identified the IS bomber as Abdul Rahman al-Pakistani who was driving a bomb-laden motorcycle that targeted the police van, killing or wounding 24 officers.

Mehmood Notezai, a local police chief said a vehicle carrying policemen was targeted in Sibi district, adding that investigation has been launched in the incident. Notezai confirmed it was a suicide attack as per as initial information.

Wounded police officers had immediately evacuated to a nearby hospital, but one officer with critical wounds succumbed to his injuries.

Sibi’s Combined Military Hospital administration also said another three wounded police officers remain in critical condition and are receiving medical treatment.

District Sibi is located about 150 kilometers east of Quetta, the provincial capital.

Separatists groups in Baluchistan, the country’s largest province by area, have engaged in decades-long insurgency, who demands independence from the country.

These people blame the government and call the state’s monopoly and exploitation of the region’s mineral resources as the main reason behind their struggle for independence.

Last year, a IS suicide bomber targeted President Arif Alvi ‘s security convoy when he attended the Sibi festival. Though Alvi was far away from the site of the bombing, but it left five security forces dead. IS militants later claimed responsibility for that attack.

Tehreek-e-Jihad Pakistan

Meanwhile, the Tehreek e Jihad Pakistan (TJP), a newly formed militant group, also claimed responsibility for Monday’s blast.

The group was formed on February 23 in order to “establish an Islamic system in Pakistan” through the use of “armed Jihad,” CNN reported citing a statement from TJP.

Pakistani security officials examine the site after a suicide attack on a police truck in Kachhi district, Balochistan province on March 6, 2023. (AFP)

It is the biggest attack by TJP, but the Pakistani interior ministry does not confirm it was the work of TJP.

The incident on Monday comes as several major attacks targeting Pakistani forces in the last few months, highlighting the rapidly deteriorating security situation in the country with the population of over 240 million.

Deadly security incidents  

In February, another four people lost their lives and 14 others received injuries after TTP fighters stormed the police headquarters in the southern city of Karachi. Pakistani officials confirmed it was TTP’s work.

In January, another 100 people, mostly police officials, were killed by a TTP bomber who stormed into a mosque in the northwestern city of Peshawar. This was one of the deadliest attacks in the country in the past several years.

TTP said they carried out the attack in revenge for the death of its leader killed in Afghanistan last year.

Defeating terrorism

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif strongly condemned the attack and expressed his condolences to the families of those killed.

“Policemen who got martyred in Bolan, Balochistan, are heroes of the nation. May their souls rest in peace! My heartfelt condolences and prayers are with the bereaved families,” Sharif said.

He also ordered health officials to provide the best medical care for those wounded.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also condemned the attack and extended his “heartfelt condolences” to the families of the victims and wished a prompt recovery to the injured.

Baluchistan’s Chief Minister, Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo also denounced the bombing and called it the work of the enemies of Pakistan.

“The enemies will not shake the resolve of the country’s police by carrying such attacks,” he said.

It is worth mentioning that Balochistan is one of key states in Pakistan and it is also one of the key routes for the $64-billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project.

Security in Balochistan is very important as it connects with China’s northwestern Xinjiang province to the state’s Gawadar port through a network of roads, railways, and pipelines for cargo, oil, and gas transportation.