Quetta tense as Pakistan Taliban targets police officers in suicide blast

At least three people were killed and over 30 wounded after a Pakistani Taliban suicide bomber targeted a police officer on polio vaccination duty near the city of Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan. In pic, security officials inspect the site of a suicide bombing. (AP)

The attack comes just two days after Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) ended a ceasefire with the government and urged its fighters to resume attacks in retaliation towards a continuous military campaign against them. (Reuters)

The blast toppled the truck carrying the police officers into a ravine and also damaged a nearby car, news agency AP reported. (AP)

According to news agency Reuters, the deceased included a policeman, a woman and a child, while fifteen police officers were wounded in the attack. The photo shows injured victims being treated at a hospital in Quetta. (Reuters)

The police officers were guarding a polio vaccination team. Polio vaccination has often come under militant attack over conspiracy theories that the immunisation was a Western tool to sterilise Muslim children. (Reuters)

Pakistani President Arif Alvi, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif and other officials in separate statements have condemned the attack. The PM said that the polio vaccination campaign would continue. (Reuters)

The TTP seeks to overthrow the Pakistani government to establish its rule under its interpretation of the Islamic law. (Reuters)