Pakistan puts arrested nurse on camera to answer questions about her alleged bomb attack

QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistani authorities on Wednesday brought a nurse they say was arrested over the weekend before state media to answer questions about her alleged attempted suicide bombing. The government-organized interview in Balochistan province was broadcast on national and local television channels.

The southwestern province of Balochistan has been a place of Long-term uprisingwith several separatist groups carrying out attacks, mainly targeting security forces in their quest for independence. There are also a number of militant groups operating in the province.

The Pakistani government has long been battling militants and insurgents from various groups across the country, with hundreds of people, both civilians and members of the security forces, killed in the fighting.

The authorities probably want to show that they are gaining an advantage in the fight.

In an interview Wednesday in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province, the nurse identified herself as Adeela Baloch and said she worked at a government hospital in Turbat district before she was “misled by terrorists” and recruited to carry out the suicide attack.

She claims she was arrested before she could carry out the attack.

It was unclear whether she spoke under duress. She did not name the group that allegedly recruited her or describe the target of the planned attack.

The Associated Press could not independently confirm her identity or verify her claims. Officials contacted by the AP declined to provide details, saying only that she would not be charged because she did not carry out the attack.

Last month outlawed separatist Balochistan Liberation Armyreported that a woman was among a group of militants who killed more than 50 people in the troubled province.

Earlier on Wednesday, a roadside bomb blast targeting police in Quetta injured 12 people, local authorities said.