Fri 29 September 2023:
In what authorities suspect was a suicide blast that occurred Friday near a Rabiul Awwal procession in Balochistan’s Mastung district, at least 52 people—including a police officer—were killed and another 50 others were injured.
Dr Saeed Mirwani, chief executive of Shaheed Nawab Ghous Bakhsh Raisani Memorial Hospital, said dozens were being treated at the facility while more than 20 injured people have been referred to Quetta for medical assistance.
“The process of moving bodies and injured persons is under way,” the hospital CEO said, adding that 22 were shifted to the Mastung district hospital.
Videos on social media and TV footage show an open area near a mosque strewn with the shoes of the dead and wounded after the powerful explosion in Mastung.
Some of the bodies had been covered with bedsheets, and residents and rescuers were seen rushing the wounded to hospitals, where a state of emergency had been declared and appeals were being issued for blood donations.
Government administrator Atta Ullah told Reuters news agency that those injured were taken to nearby hospitals and some were in a critical condition.
“The bomber detonated himself near the vehicle of the deputy superintendent of police (DSP),” Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Munir Ahmed told Reuters, adding that the blast took place near the mosque where people were gathering for a procession to mark Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) birthday, which is a public holiday.
The Mastung AC had identified the martyred DSP as Nawaz Gishkori. SHO Lehri also confirmed that the explosion was a “suicide blast”.
Friday’s bombing came days after authorities asked police to remain on maximum alert, saying militants could target rallies making the birthday of Islam’s prophet.
Also Friday, a blast ripped through a mosque located on the premises of a police station in Hangu, a district in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, wounding seven people, said Shah Raz Khan, a local police officer.
He said the mud-brick mosque collapsed because of the impact of the blast and rescuers were removing the debris to pull out worshippers from the rubble. Police say it was not immediately clear what caused the blast.
Police official Javed Lehri has told Al Jazeera that so far no group has claimed responsibility for the Mastung bomb blast.
“While the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan has said it has nothing to do with the attack, no other group has so far claimed responsibility,” he said.
Lehri added that the procession was organised by two local religious parties to mark the celebration of the prophet’s birthday.
Meanwhile, the outlawed group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has issued a statement distancing itself from the two bomb attacks in Pakistan’s northwestern and southwestern provinces.
The TTP, also known as Pakistani Taliban, condemned the two attacks and called the loss of lives “tragic”.
“The goals of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan are clear. Mosques, seminaries, schools and public gatherings are not among our targets. We have nothing to do with today’s two blasts and we strongly condemn them,” the statement from the TTP’s spokesperson Muhammad Khorasani read.
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
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