A female suicide bomber killed aPakistani paramilitary force member and injured four others inPakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province. “One soldier of the Frontier Corps was killed and four others injured in the suicide attack conducted by a female suicide bomber,” said Bilal Shabbir, the Deputy Commissioner of Kalat District, where the attack took place. Body parts of the assailant were recovered from the scene. No group immediately took responsibility for the attack.

Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Sarfaraz Bugti also strongly condemned the suicide attack and said that terrorism and cowardly acts could not affect the provinces peace and stability. He said the sacrifices of the security forces personnel were for the establishment of peace in Baluchistan and the protection of the common man.

“We salute the services and sacrifices of security forces. The blood of martyrs will not go in vain. Every person of Baluchistan is indebted to the blood of martyrs,

CM Bugti

Several ethnic insurgent groups in Baluchistan are battling the central government, saying it unfairly exploits gas and mineral resources in the province, where poverty is rife.

Suicide attackers in Pakistan:

One of the groups, the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) has previously used female militants to stage attacks, is a departure from most suicide bombings in the region which largely involve male perpetrators.

Female suicide bombers are rare in Pakistan. The last confirmed suicide attack by a woman was in 2022, when three Chinese teachers and their Pakistani driver were killed in an explosion that ripped through their van at a university campus in Karachi.

In August, at least 73 people were killed when separatist militants attacked police stations, railway lines and highways and security forces launched retaliatory operations, officials said.