QUETTA, Pakistan, Sept  29, 2023 (BSS/AFP) - More than 50 people were
killed and dozens more wounded in Pakistan's Balochistan province on Friday 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 kilometres 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.

In southwestern Balochistan, officials said a suicide bomber detonated a
device as rallies from neighbourhood mosques converged on a meeting point in
Mastung, around 40 kilometres (25 miles) south of the provincial capital,
Quetta.

"My feet trembled and I was thrown to the ground," said 49-year-old Hazoor
Bakhsh.

"As the dust settled, I saw people scattered in all directions, some
screaming while others called out for help."

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," Munir Ahmed Shaikh, the deputy inspector-general of
Balochistan's police force, told AFP.

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.

- Surge in violence -

Friday's blast comes as Pakistan prepares for an election due in January
next year -- while grappling with a political crisis, a crippled economy, and a
surge in militant violence inspired by the return to power of the Taliban in
Afghanistan in 2021.

Jan Achakzai, Balochistan's minister for information, announced a three-day
mourning period.

Balochistan, Pakistan's least populous province, is also home to several
militant groups fighting for independence or a greater share of the region's
mineral resources.

Hundreds of kilometres 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 told AFP.

"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.

In July, more than 40 people were killed in a suicide bombing in Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa at a religious political party's gathering.

Pakistan's Taliban have stepped up attacks against military and government
targets since the return to power of the Taliban in neighbouring Afghanistan.
But the group said it had nothing to do with the Balochistan attack.

The regional chapter of the Islamic State group, known as Islamic
State-Khorasan (IS-K), has also carried out attacks in the area in the past.
"The attack on innocent people who came to participate in the procession...
is a very heinous act," the interior ministry said in a statement.

Separately, Pakistan's military said Friday four soldiers had been killed
as they fought an attempt by TTP militants to infiltrate Balochistan from
Afghanistan.