QUETTA: A suicide
bomber targeted an open-air market in the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta
on Friday, killing at least 20 people and wounding dozens of others, police and
hospital officials said.
Shortly after the
bombing, struck near a Shiite residential area, dozens of angry Shiite youths
rallied in Quetta, demanding more security from the authorities and the arrest
of those behind the attacks.
They also denounced
the violence by Sunni extremists who have killed hundreds in similar attacks
over the past years in Baluchistan province, where Quetta is the capital.
"It seems people
from the (Shiite) Hazara community were the target," said senior police
chief Abdur Razzaq Cheema, adding that some of the victims were in critical
condition.
Mir Ziaullah Langau,
the provincial home minister, said the suicide bomber had walked up to the
marketplace and killed both Shiites and Sunnis.
No group immediately
claimed responsibility for the attack, which took place in the Hazarganji
neighborhood, but Sunni militant groups have claimed similar bombings in the
past against Shiites, whom they view as apostates deserving of death.
Cheema, the police
chief said at least eight Shiites were among the dead, as well as a
paramilitary soldier and seven other people. Four paramilitary troops, who were
guarding the open-air fruit and vegetable market, were among the wounded.
Pakistan's Prime
Minister Imran Khan strongly condemned the “terrorist attack in Hazarganji
market area of Quetta.” He added that he had asked for an immediate inquiry and
increased security for the people.
Local TV footage
showed several damaged shops and at least one paramilitary vehicle. A wounded
man told reporters from his hospital bed how he had heard a loud explosion
before he was struck down.
Qadir Nayil, a leader
of the Hazara community, asked the government to provide better protection for
the Shiites.
"Once again our
people were the target and once again we will have to bury our dear ones,"
he said. "We demand more security from the government and all those
involved in today's act of terrorism should be found and punished."
Pakistani Prime
Minister Imran Khan and President Arif Alvi issued statements condemning the
attack and adding that it would not weaken "the resolve of the nation in
the fight against terrorism."
Jam Kamal Khan, the
chief minister of Baluchistan province, also condemned the attack, saying
"the enemy of humanity" is to blame.
Several militant
groups operate in Baluchistan, which is also the scene of a low-level
insurgency by separatists demanding more autonomy and a greater share in the
region's natural resources such as gas and oil.
Credit: Arab News.com
– 12 April 2019
https://bit.ly/2DbbV8F
Video: Al Jazeera – 12
April 2019
https://bit.ly/2UjRiN8
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