Global Courant
At least 34 people were killed and more than 50 injured in a suicide bombing near a religious rally in Pakistan’s restive South Balochistan province on Friday.
“The death toll stands at 34 and more than 50 injured,” Ali Khan, head of police control in Mastung district of Balochistan, where the tragedy occurred, told EFE news agency.
Meanwhile, Mastung police spokesman Zubair Baloch reported that a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a mosque as a group was celebrating the birth of the Prophet Mohammed.
The victims could also include police officers who were on duty at the time of the attack.
So far, no terrorist group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
This is the second explosion in Mustang this month. On September 14, 11 people, including Jamiat Ulema Islam (JUI) religious party leader Hafiz Hamdullah, were injured in an explosion near the vehicle in which they were traveling on the Quetta-Karachi highway.
This political formation suffered a suicide attack in late July last year during a political rally that left at least 63 people dead and 120 injured and was claimed by the jihadist group Islamic State Khorasan, a local affiliate of the terror group.
Pakistan has witnessed a surge in armed violence since the Afghan Taliban came to power in Kabul in August 2021, triggering renewed attacks by their Pakistani ideological brethren, particularly in the Afghan border provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.
This last province is also a frequent scene of violence due to the presence of armed groups, Taliban factions and jihadist groups.
According to a report released in early July by the Pakistan Institute of Security and Conflict Studies, there were 271 militant attacks in the first half of the year, killing 389 people and wounding another 656.
A significant increase in numbers compared to the same period in 2022, when Pakistan suffered 151 attacks that left 293 dead and 487 injured.
