More than 50 people were yesterday killed and dozens more wounded in Pakistan’s Balochistan Province by a suicide bomber targeting a procession marking the birthday of Islam’s Prophet Mohammed, officials said.
A second suicide attack by two men at a mosque hundreds of kilometers north in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province led to a roof collapse that killed four people, officials said.
While the celebration of the prophet’s birthday is accepted by the majority of Islamic sects in Pakistan and elsewhere in the Muslim world, certain denominations view it as an unwarranted innovation.
Photo: EPA-EFE
In Balochistan, officials said a suicide bomber detonated a device as rallies from neighborhood mosques converged on a meeting point in Mastung, about 40km south of the provincial capital, Quetta.
“My feet trembled and I was thrown to the ground,” 49-year-old Hazoor Bakhsh said.
“As the dust settled, I saw people scattered in all directions, some screaming while others called out for help,” he said.
Local hospitals were overwhelmed by the number of wounded, and provincial authorities used social media platforms to appeal for blood donors.
The death toll kept climbing throughout the day.
“I can confirm that the death toll has increased to 52, with over 70 individuals injured,” said Munir Ahmed Shaikh, deputy inspector-general of Balochistan’s police force.
Every year, mosques and government buildings are elaborately illuminated with strings of lights, and people march in processions to mark the prophet’s birthday.
On the same occasion in April 2006, a suicide bomber killed at least 50 people in the port city of Karachi after detonating a device at a gathering of Sunni Muslims.
Balochistan Minister for Information Jan Achakza, announced a three-day mourning period.
Hundreds of kilometers north in Hangu, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, four people were killed after the roof of a mosque collapsed following a suicide attack.
“Two militants, armed with automatic firearms, hand grenades and suicide vests attempted to breach the mosque’s security,” senior district police officer Nisar Ahmad said.
“They were intercepted at the main entrance leading to an exchange of gunfire. One of them detonated his vest, while the other managed to enter the mosque’s hall through a window,” Ahmad said.
Most of those inside had managed to escape as the shooting started, but the detonation of the second bomber’s vest brought the roof down, killing four people, he said.
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