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Two dead in mosque blast in southwest Pakistan: police
QUETTA, Pakistan, May 24, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – At least two people were killed
and more than two dozen injured by a blast during Friday prayers at a mosque
in southwestern Pakistan, officials said.
Police chief Abdur Razzaq Cheema said the explosion — the latest violence
in a string of attacks in restive Balochistan province — was caused by a
remotely detonated bomb.
“We have received two dead bodies and 28 injured,” Dr. Mohammad Waseem in
Quetta’s Sandeman hospital told AFP, adding that about 12 patients were in a
serious condition.
There have been no claims of responsibility for the incident.
The blast comes weeks after a suicide blast claimed by the Islamic State
group in the provincial capital Quetta killed at least 20 people.
Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest and poorest province — bordering
Afghanistan and Iran — is rife with Islamist, separatist and sectarian
insurgencies, even as incidents of violence have significantly dropped
elsewhere in Pakistan.
Militants still retain the ability to carry out attacks, including on
major urban centres and tightly-guarded targets, and analysts have long
warned that Pakistan is yet to tackle the root causes of extremism.
Balochistan is key to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), part of
Beijing’s Belt and Road initiative.
CPEC seeks to connect China’s western province of Xinjiang with Gwadar,
giving Beijing access to the Arabian Sea.
BSS/AFP/RY/1935 hrs