ISIS Claims Responsibility for Bombing that Killed 2 Police Officers in Pakistan

The wreckage of a police vehicle destroyed by an improvised explosive device (IED) in Kuchlak, near Quetta, provincial capital of Balochistan, Pakistan, 14 September 2024. EPA/FAYYAZ AHMAD
The wreckage of a police vehicle destroyed by an improvised explosive device (IED) in Kuchlak, near Quetta, provincial capital of Balochistan, Pakistan, 14 September 2024. EPA/FAYYAZ AHMAD
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ISIS Claims Responsibility for Bombing that Killed 2 Police Officers in Pakistan

The wreckage of a police vehicle destroyed by an improvised explosive device (IED) in Kuchlak, near Quetta, provincial capital of Balochistan, Pakistan, 14 September 2024. EPA/FAYYAZ AHMAD
The wreckage of a police vehicle destroyed by an improvised explosive device (IED) in Kuchlak, near Quetta, provincial capital of Balochistan, Pakistan, 14 September 2024. EPA/FAYYAZ AHMAD

ISIS claimed responsibility for the weekend bombing that killed two police officials in restive southwestern Pakistan, officials said Monday.

Analysts say the latest violence is a sign of increasing coordination between militants and separatists who for years have been targeting security forces and civilians in the oil- and gas-rich Balochistan province bordering Iran and Afghanistan.

ISIS said in a statement on Sunday that it detonated an explosive device a day earlier targeting a Pakistani police vehicle in Kuchlak town near Quetta, the capital of Balochistan. Pakistani officials say the attack killed two officers and wounded two others on a highway.

The Balochistan Liberation Army has previously claimed such attacks, but ISIS has carried out similar attacks in recent months.
BLA last month killed dozens of people in gun and suicide attacks on passenger buses, police stations and military facilities.



Kremlin Says Trump Shooter's Ukrainian Links Show Playing with Fire Has Consequences

Ryan W. Routh, a suspect identified by news organizations, as the FBI investigates what they said was an apparent assassination attempt in Florida on Republican presidential nominee and former US President Donald Trump, is seen during a rally demanding China's leader's assistance to organise an extraction process for Ukrainian - Reuters
Ryan W. Routh, a suspect identified by news organizations, as the FBI investigates what they said was an apparent assassination attempt in Florida on Republican presidential nominee and former US President Donald Trump, is seen during a rally demanding China's leader's assistance to organise an extraction process for Ukrainian - Reuters
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Kremlin Says Trump Shooter's Ukrainian Links Show Playing with Fire Has Consequences

Ryan W. Routh, a suspect identified by news organizations, as the FBI investigates what they said was an apparent assassination attempt in Florida on Republican presidential nominee and former US President Donald Trump, is seen during a rally demanding China's leader's assistance to organise an extraction process for Ukrainian - Reuters
Ryan W. Routh, a suspect identified by news organizations, as the FBI investigates what they said was an apparent assassination attempt in Florida on Republican presidential nominee and former US President Donald Trump, is seen during a rally demanding China's leader's assistance to organise an extraction process for Ukrainian - Reuters

The Kremlin said on Monday that the Ukrainian links of the alleged shooter in the assassination attempt on former US President Donald Trump showed that "playing with fire" had consequences.

The remark was a clear reference to the United States' support of Ukraine against Russia. Washington has sent tens of billions of dollars of military aid to Kyiv in an attempt to help Ukrainian forces defeat Russia, according to Reuters.

Asked about what the FBI called an apparent assassination attempt on Trump, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said:

"It is not us who should be thinking, it is the US intelligence services who should be thinking. In any case, playing with fire has its consequences."

Peskov, when asked if the assassination attempt risked destabilizing the United States, said it was not really Russia's business, though Russia was monitoring the situation.

"We see how tense the situation is there, including between political competitors," Peskov said. "The political struggle is escalating, and a variety of methods are being used."

CNN, Fox News and the New York Times identified the suspect as Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, of Hawaii, citing unidentified law enforcement officials.

Three social media accounts bearing Routh's name suggest he was an avid supporter of Ukraine in its war against Russia.

The New York Times reported it had interviewed Routh in 2023 for an article about Americans who were volunteering to help the Ukraine war effort.

Routh told the Times he'd travelled to Ukraine and spent several months there in 2022 and was trying to recruit Afghan soldiers who fled the Taliban to fight in Ukraine.