At least nine security men were martyred and another 16 were injured when the mini-truck they were travelling in was hit by a suicide bomber in Bolan area of Balochistan on Monday, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

According to Levies sources, the injured, three of them in serious condition, have been rushed to Civil Hospital in Sibi for treatment.

The truck, carrying the Balochistan Constabulary personnel to Quetta from Sibi, was targeted near a bridge in Landi Khosa area of Bolan.

"The suicide bomber was riding a motorbike and hit the truck from behind," senior police official Abdul Hai Aamir told AFP.

Mehmood Notezai, police chief for Kachhi district, told AFP the security men were returning from a week-long cattle show where they had been providing security.

The security forces have surrounded teh Kimbarri Bridge areas while the administration has sounded an emergency at hospitals of Sibi, Bolan and Quetta.

According to police, the blast took place near the mini-truck transporting the Balochistan Constabulary's personnel. The vehicle overturned due to the powerful blast, the police added.

SSP Katchi Mehmood Notezai maintained that the preliminary evidence suggested that it was a suicide attack; however, the exact nature of the blast could be ascertained only after the investigation. The police officer said that a bomb disposal team reached the site of the incident and the area was being searched after the explosion.

on January 23, four women among 15 people suffered injuries when a bomb blast derailed a Peshawar-bound train in Bolan district in an attack claimed by the banned Baloch Liberation Army.

Officials had said the explosi­­on that derailed eight coa­c­hes of Jaffar Express along with its locomotive and damaged a portion of the main railway track linking Quetta with the rest of the country was carried out by a remote-controlled device.

President Alvi, PM Shehbaz vow to eradicate terrorism from country

President Dr Arif Alvi and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif have expressed their resolve to free the country from the menace of terrorism.

In their separate statements, both strongly condemned the suicide attack on the personnel of the Balochistan Constabulary in Sibi that led to their martyrdom.

President Alvi said terrorists would not be successful in carrying out their nefarious agenda.

PM Sharif said terrorism in Balochistan was part of the nefarious designs to create instability in the country.

The president and the prime minister paid tribute to the valour of the country’s martyred troops. They prayed to Allah Almighty to grant elevated ranks to the souls of martyrs in heaven and to grant of patience to their families.

Repoter Esa Tareen