Two suicide bombers attacked the offices of a security commander in the Pakistani city of Quetta this morning killing 13 people (3 Frontier corps members and 10 civilians) in what appears to be a revenge attack for the arrest of al Qaeda operative Younis al Mauritani just a few days ago.
From the report at The Long War Journal:
A pair of suicide bombers killed 16 people and wounded dozens more in an attack on a senior security official's office in the southern Pakistani city of Quetta.
The first suicide bomber rammed his car packed with explosives into a vehicle outside of the office of the Deputy Inspector General of the Baluchistan Frontier Corps, which is in a high-security zone in the city. The second suicide bomber entered the office and opened fire with an assault rifle. He later detonated his explosive-packed vest, leveling the office and damaging nearby buildings.
Thirteen civilians and three Frontier Corps troopers were killed in the attack, according to GEO News. Thirty more were wounded.
No group has claimed responsibility for the double suicide attack in Quetta. The Pakistani Taliban, the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, and al Qaeda all have a presence in Quetta. The city is also a stronghold of the Afghan Taliban; its top council is known as the Quetta Shura.
Al Qaeda may be involved in today's double suicide attack. It took place just two days after the Pakistani military announced it arrested Younis al Mauritani, a senior member of al Qaeda's external operations council, and his two aides, Abdul Ghaffar Al Shami and Messara Al Shami. The three al Qaeda operatives were arrested in a suburb of Quetta during a joint operation between the Baluchistan Frontier Corps and the Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate.
This is pretty unusual as Quetta has actually been fairly untouched by suicide bombings and other violence when you look at Pakistan as a whole so I am sure this was retribution for the al Mauritani arrest. You've got two bombers, you've got an attack on a security commander's location....well, you've got al Qaeda.
Suicide bombers kill 16 Pakistanis in Quetta
A pair of suicide bombers killed 16 people and wounded dozens more in an attack on a senior security official's office in the southern Pakistani city of Quetta.
The first suicide bomber rammed his car packed with explosives into a vehicle outside of the office of the Deputy Inspector General of the Baluchistan Frontier Corps, which is in a high-security zone in the city. The second suicide bomber entered the office and opened fire with an assault rifle. He later detonated his explosive-packed vest, leveling the office and damaging nearby buildings.
Thirteen civilians and three Frontier Corps troopers were killed in the attack, according to GEO News. Thirty more were wounded.
No group has claimed responsibility for the double suicide attack in Quetta. The Pakistani Taliban, the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, and al Qaeda all have a presence in Quetta. The city is also a stronghold of the Afghan Taliban; its top council is known as the Quetta Shura.
Al Qaeda may be involved in today's double suicide attack. It took place just two days after the Pakistani military announced it arrested Younis al Mauritani, a senior member of al Qaeda's external operations council, and his two aides, Abdul Ghaffar Al Shami and Messara Al Shami. The three al Qaeda operatives were arrested in a suburb of Quetta during a joint operation between the Baluchistan Frontier Corps and the Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate.
Today's suicide attack is the second in Quetta in eight days. On Aug. 31, a suicide bomber killed 11 people in a parking lot outside a Shia mosque. No group claimed responsibility for the attack. The Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, which is closely allied to the Taliban and al Qaeda, is known to conduct suicide and other attacks on Shias.
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