Top Pakistan Taliban leader killed in Balochistan: Police
A top commander of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, who was believed to be involved in the attack on Quetta's Civil Hospital in 2016, has been killed, along with three members of the banned militant outfit in Balochistan province, police said on Thursday. Based on a tip-off, the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) launched an operation in the Agbara area of Balochistan on Tuesday and killed Riaz Thekedar.
Thekedar was involved in several attacks on security forces
"Four of the terrorists were killed in heavy firing, while two managed to escape," police said. A large cache of guns, ammunition, and weapons was seized from the spot. A CTD spokesman said top Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan leader Thekedar, was killed in the encounter. "Thekedar was involved in several attacks on security forces and the attack on Civil Hospital in Quetta in 2016," he said.
Eighty killed, 150 injured in the Quetta attack in 2016
Eighty people were killed and 150 people were injured during the suicide bombing and gunfire by militants at the Civil Hospital in Quetta in 2016 when members of the provincial Bar Association were staging a protest there against the suspicious death of a fellow advocate.
The TTP was blacklisted by the UN in 2011
"Thekedar was also involved in target killings, motorcycle bomb attacks in Pishin, bank robberies, and kidnapping of the son of PashtUNkhwa Milli Awami Party leader Sardar Mustafa Tareen," the spokesperson said. The other three terrorists killed in the operation were Fazal-ur-Rehman, Syed Ramzan, and Syed Matiullah. The TTP was blacklisted by the UN on July 29, 2011, for its association with Al-Qaeda.
A bomb blast killed several last Friday during pro-Palestine rally
The latest police operation follows last Friday's bomb blast in the province during a pro-Palestine rally in which at least seven people were killed and nearly 13 others were injured. No outfit had taken responsibility for the attack. However, Baloch nationalists and Taliban insurgents are active in the area and often carry out such attacks.
Bomb blast at Serena Hotel killed at least five people
Last month, a bomb exploded in the parking lot of the Serena Hotel in Quetta, killing at least five people and wounding 12 others. The Chinese ambassador to Pakistan was staying there at the time of the attack but was away on a visit.
