At least 52 people, including a senior police official, were killed on Friday when a suicide bomber hit close to a gathering to mark the Prophet’s birthday in southwest Pakistan, a district commissioner and hospital officials said.
Arab News reports that the attack, in which 100 people were injured, took place in Mastung city in the impoverished Balochistan province.
“Locals were gathering for an Eid Milad ul Nabi procession when a suicide bomber attacked a police van near the rally,” Mastung Assistant Commissioner Mastung Atta ul Munim told Arab News, adding that a deputy superintendent of police was among the dead.
Dr. Saeed Baloch at the Nawab Ghos Buksh Raisani Hospital said 52 had been killed and 100 were injured.
“Thirty-two dead bodies have arrived at our hospital [NGBR] and 20 were shifted to District Headquarters Hospital Mastung,” the doctor said. “The number of critical injuries is high and the death toll might increase.”
No group has as yet claimed responsibility for the attack but the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) denied it was involved.
The Daesh group is known for attacks in Pakistan and beyond on religious gatherings and on minorities.
Balochistan is also home to a decades-long insurgency by ethnic Baloch guerrillas fighting the government over accusations of exploiting the province’s rich gas and mineral resources.
HANGU ATTACK
Separately, at least two people were killed and ten injured as an explosion ripped through a mosque located in a police station in Hangu in the northwestern Khyber Pakthunkhwa province.
“Two people have died and over 10 are injured,” a spokesperson for Rescue 1122 Hangu, Harron Khan, told Arab News.
The roof of the mosque had collapsed, police said, and many people were trapped inside.
The blast occurred during Friday prayers, as a mosque leader was delivering his sermon before a group of around 50 people.
