Suicide attack in southwest Pakistan kills nine policemen, Islamic State claims responsibility

Another bombing has been reported from Pakistan where a suicide bomber rammed a motorcycle into a police truck in the southwestern region of the country on Monday, killing nine policemen, a police spokesman said. The suicide attack reportedly took place at Dhadar, the main town of Kachhi district, which is around 120 kilometres southeast of Quetta in Balochistan.

Hospital officials said at least 16policemen were wounded in the attack.

The Islamic State group, in a statement released on its Amaq news agency, claimed responsibility for the attack. Those killed died "in an attack carried out by an Islamic State fighter in Pakistan," the militants said.

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The militantinsurgency has been high in Balochistan for a few years, where local communities have been demanding a bigger share of the province's wealth.

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

Pictures from the scene showedthe police truck upside down on the road with its windows shattered.

AFP reported that the police were on their way back from a week-long cattle show where they had been providing security.

"Terrorism in Balochistan is part of a nefarious agenda to destabilise the country," Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said in a statement released by his office.

The latest attack comesjust weeks aftera suicide blast in a mosque in Peshawar killed more than 80 police officers. The attacker had entered the premises on a motorcycle and was dressed in a police uniform.

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