At least three people were killed and 16 others injured in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast on Eastern Bypass area of Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan, in the evening of July 23, reports Daily Times. Quetta Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Abdul Razzaq Cheema confirmed the incident and said that unidentified militants had planted the explosive device in a motorcycle and parked it outside a medical store.
Meanwhile, a Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) militant commander Shaikh Muhammad Mumtaz alias Naseem Firaun and two of his accomplices were killed during a shootout with Security Forces (SFs) in Panjgur District of Balochistan on July 23, reports Daily Times. The other two militants were identified as Hanzala and Sameer. The slain militants are said to be associated with Naeem Bukhari group of LeJ. A cache of arms, ammunition and explosive material were recovered from their possession. According to the information received, Shaikh Muhammad Mumtaz was involved in dozens of targeted killings, attacks on Police, extortion and other acts of terrorism. Eight members of his group had already been arrested from different cities, said the sources. Firaun was also involved in killing of two Policemen of the Sindh Reserve Police (SRP) in the Orangi Town area in June 2019. He had been arrested by the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) in 2013 and the militant had managed to escape from the Judicial Complex of Central Prison Karachi in June 2017.