Security forces shot dead five suspected al Qaeda-linked Chechen militants who had tried to carry out a suicide bombing in here on Tuesday, police and paramilitary officials said. The would-be bombers included three women, police said. They were killed near a paramilitary checkpoint in Quetta. One soldier died of wounds after being shot in the incident.
Quetta police chief Daud Junejo said the attackers were Chechens. He gave no other details. One Russian passport with a picture of a man in a suit was shown to journalists. Five bloodied corpses were laying near a sandbagged machinegun nest at the checkpoint. One of the attackers had a bullet hole in his stomach. PTV showed one of the women waving her hand in the air before she died.
"I saw them getting out of a vehicle and the police were chasing them. All of a sudden there was a blast which was followed by an exchange of fire," said witness Zaheer Khan. A police official said at least one of the attackers blew himself up before being shot. Other police officials said the five attackers travelled to Pakistan from Afghanistan, where US-led Nato forces are battling Afghan Taliban insurgents.