Suicide car bombing at security checkpoint in Pakistan kills 5, injures 13

At least 5 people have been reported dead and 13 injured after a car bombing at a security checkpoint in Pakistan’s Balochistan province, a security official reported on Friday.The attack took place on Thursday evening in the Kanda Wa area of Mastung district, along the N-25 national highway. The vehicle struck a Frontier Corps (FC) checkpoint, according to a security official quoted by PTI.The three militants killed in the attack included the bomber, while two civilians also died. The injured included FC personnel, the official said. However, Dawn, quoting Balochistan police, reported that at least 16 people were injured, including three members of the border forces.The banned Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility for the bombing, identifying the suicide attacker as Osama Shahwani and saying he had joined the organisation in 2022.A security official, however, said Shahwani's name had appeared in a missing-persons case in 2024. The official alleged that the incident pointed to the BLA's recruitment of young Baloch men and its attempts to mislead authorities about their whereabouts.The injured were shifted to nearby hospitals for treatment. Security agencies are investigating the attack and the circumstances surrounding the bomber's links to the insurgent group.You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.