Home Latest News Politician Among Casualties of Mastung Bombing

Politician Among Casualties of Mastung Bombing

by AFP

Banaras Khan—AFP

Suspected suicide blast targeted political rally, killing at least 128 and injuring 150 others

A suicide blast ripped through a crowd at a political rally in Balochistan province on Friday, killing 128 people and wounding 150, officials told AFP, in one of the deadliest attacks in Pakistan’s history.

The blast in the town of Mastung, near the provincial capital Quetta, was the latest in a string of attacks that have spurred fears of violence ahead of nationwide polls on July 25, and underscored the fragility of Pakistan’s dramatic gains in security.

Authorities said the suicide bomber detonated in the middle of a compound where the political meeting was taking place. “Human remains and red bloody pieces of flesh were littered everywhere in the compound. Injured people were crying in pain and fear,” said local journalist Attah Ullah.

One political worker, Salam Baloch, said he heard a “deafening blast” and saw a “thick grey ball of fire and smoke.”

“People put… bodies and the injured in rickshaws and other vehicles and rushed them to hospital before rescue officials arrived,” he added.

Emergency workers also shuttled victims in ambulances as bystanders sobbed in the darkness due to the lack of electricity in the impoverished area.

Survivors in blood-smeared clothes were taken to hospitals in Mastung and nearby Quetta, where they were greeted by tense crowds of mourners, an AFP reporter said. The deceased could be seen covered in shrouds. “The death toll has risen to 128,” Balochistan home minister Agha Umar Bungalzai told AFP. A senior provincial government official also confirmed the figure, adding that 150 others were injured.

Among the dead was Siraj Raisani, who was running for a provincial seat with the newly formed local Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), Bungalzai said.

The attack was the most lethal since Taliban militants assaulted a school in Peshawar in 2014, killing over 150 people, mostly children, and one of the deadliest in Pakistan’s long struggle with militancy.

It came hours after four people were killed and 39 injured when a bomb hidden inside a motorcycle detonated close to another politician’s convoy in Bannu on Friday, near the border with Afghanistan. The politician—Akram Khan Durrani, a candidate of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) party—survived, police said. No group has yet claimed responsibility for that attack.

On Tuesday, a bomb claimed by the Pakistani Taliban targeted a rally by the Awami National Party (ANP) in Peshawar.

Local ANP leader Haroon Bilour was among the 22 killed. Thousands flocked to his funeral the next day.

The Islamic State group has a muted presence in Pakistan but has carried out brutal attacks there in the past, including the blast at a Sufi shrine in February last year which killed nearly 90 people.

Militants have targeted politicians, religious gatherings, security forces and even schools in Pakistan. But security across the country has dramatically improved since government and military operations cleared large swathes of territory near the Afghan border in recent years.

Analysts warn, however, that Pakistan has yet to tackle the root causes of extremism, and militants retain the ability to carry out attacks.

Last month, a U.S. airstrike killed the leader of the Pakistani Taliban, Maulana Fazlullah, in neighboring Afghanistan in what the Pakistan Army called a “positive development” that also sparked fears of reprisals.

The military has warned of security threats in the run-up to the tense election on July 25, and said it will deploy more than 370,000 soldiers on polling day.

Activists called for Pakistani authorities to remain vigilant to protect candidates during the final days of the campaign season, already tense amid a stand off between former premier Nawaz Sharif and the security establishment.

“The Pakistani authorities have a duty to protect the rights of all Pakistanis during this election period—their physical security and their ability to express their political views freely, regardless of which party they belong to,” said Omar Waraich, deputy South Asia director at Amnesty International.

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated from its original version due to ongoing developments and a rising death toll

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2 comments

Peter Ravenscroft July 14, 2018 - 12:55 am

BBC now says 128 killed. Sincere condolences.

A requiem:

Religions are not what they say

Religions are not what they say.
Their measure is the misery
they leave along their way.

PSR, Australia. 14 July 2018

Reply
Distribution & Logistic July 14, 2018 - 10:48 am

i dont know i have no words for them poor people why Allah did not give punishment to the real cause behind it thats so sad

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