The Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has claimed responsibility for a suspected car bomb blast at the luxury Serena Hotel’s parking area in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan, which killed at least four people and wounded 12. China’s Ambassador to Pakistan was staying at the hotel but was not there when the bomb exploded, Pakistan’s interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad said. Previous attacks in the province, including the one on Pearl Continental hotel in Gwadar in 2019, were claimed by the Balochistan Liberation Army. The attack comes days after the U.S. announcement of a complete foreign troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, recent reports suggesting the resurgence and coming together of TTP splinter groups and failed secret talks with the Pakistan government.
