Pak's terror targets

In another terror attack that shook Quetta on Wednesday, at least seven policemen were killed and 22 others are injured, according to initial reports, when an explosion ripped through a police truck carrying police recruits. Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan spokesperson Muhammad Kharasani has claimed responsibility for the attack, declaring that they had targetted Frontier Corps (FC). Two passers-by on the city's eastern outskirts also fell victim to this act of terror. As per initial investigation, nearly 50 kilograms of explosive was used in the explosion. Condemning the attack, Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Sanaullah Khan Zehri said that such cowardly acts couldn't demotivate police and security officials from acting against terrorism. The continuing fight against terrorism, he added, would continue until the elimination of the last terrorist from Pakistan's soil. President Mamnoon Hussain and Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi also condemned the attack and directed the authorities concerned to provide best medical treatment to the injured. This attack comes at a time when there is upsurge in terrorist violence and following a major operation performed by US and Afghanistan at the Kurram Agency border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Both countries have been performing their vigilante duty on the border and carrying operations against the terrorists in the region. Balochistan has been experiencing rather frequently incidents of violence and targeted killings for over a decade now. In recent months, the province has faced a number of security challenges, with security personnel in the province often being targeted in roadside explosions and suicide attacks. Earlier, on August 13, fifteen people, including eight soldiers, were killed when a suicide bomber targeted a military truck near the Pishin bus stop in Quetta. Before that, in June, 14 people (including seven policemen) lost their lives in a suicide blast. Quetta's security situation shows little signs of improving. With

In recent months, the province has faced a number of security challenges, with security personnel in the province often being targeted in roadside explosions and suicide attacks. Earlier, on August 13, fifteen people, including eight soldiers, were killed when a suicide bomber targeted a military truck near the Pishin bus stop in Quetta. Before that, in June, 14 people (including seven policemen) lost their lives in a suicide blast. Quetta's security situation shows little signs of improving. With the another attack before Wednesday's on vegetable vendors (on October 9), the city is headed for an economic and intellectual flight. The vicitms include many Hazaras, an ethnic group native to central Afghanistan that are spread across areas some of which fall in Pakistan. Chief of the Hazara Qoumi Jirga, Qayoum Changezi, believes that the attack was a result of the administration's negligence. That attack opened up old wounds and raised questions about safety and security, particularly of Hazara business community. They are confined within the boundries of their community because anywhere outside is a threat to them. Since 2002, at least 2,679 Shia Muslims have been killed in an unrelenting campaign of targeted attacks and bombings in Pakistan, according to South Asia Terrorism Portal. Since 2012, attacks against the ethnic Hazara community, have been on the rise. Hazara casualties include everyone from students and government employees to sportsmen. Indeed, Pakistan has much to put in place to tackle the terrorism that it has cultivated.