Quetta, May 31, 2025: At least two people were killed and six others injured in a blast near Nawan Killi, on the outskirts of Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province, police confirmed on Saturday.
Emergency responders and law enforcement officials rushed to the scene, cordoning off the area and shifting the injured to a nearby hospital. The nature of the explosion is still under investigation.
This latest attack comes amid a surge in terrorist incidents across Pakistan, particularly in the bordering provinces of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, since the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan in 2021.
According to recent data by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS), January 2025 witnessed a 42% increase in militant attacks compared to the previous month. A total of 74 attacks were recorded nationwide, resulting in 91 deaths — including 35 security personnel, 20 civilians, and 36 militants — and 117 injuries.
A day earlier, Additional Deputy Commissioner Hidayat Buledi was martyred in Khuzdar’s Sorab city when gunmen from the proscribed Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) attacked the residence of the deputy commissioner. The attackers also looted a local bank and set fire to homes of government officials in Sorab Bazaar.
Security forces, including the Frontier Corps, police, and Levies, launched a search and clearance operation following the attack.
Earlier on May 21, a powerful bomb targeted a school bus near Zero Point in Khuzdar, killing eight people, including five schoolchildren, and injuring dozens more. The attack sparked widespread domestic and international condemnation.
Recent intelligence reports, claim that India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) has reactivated proxy groups in Balochistan, such as the BLA and Fitna al-Khawarij, to orchestrate acts of terrorism in Gwadar, Quetta, and Khuzdar. RAW is also alleged to be mobilizing illegal Afghan nationals for sabotage activities.
In April, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry publicly accused India of state-sponsored terrorism, presenting what he termed “irrefutable evidence” of Indian involvement in destabilizing Pakistan.
