Global Courant
QUETTA – The death toll from a major explosion at a mosque in Pakistan rose to 59 on Saturday after the government vowed to track down the perpetrators and accused Indian intelligence of being involved.
Friday’s blast ripped through a mosque in Mastung in the southern province of Balochistan after a bomber detonated its explosives near a police vehicle where people were gathering for a procession to mark the Prophet Mohammed’s birthday.
Pakistani officials have long alleged that India sponsors violent groups in Pakistan – claims that India has always denied.
“Civilian, military and all other institutions will jointly strike against the elements involved in the Mastung suicide attack,” Interior Minister Sarfaraz Bugti told media in Balochistan’s capital Quetta.
“RAW is involved in the suicide attack,” he added, referring to the Indian intelligence agency’s Research & Analysis Wing (RAW). He provided no details or evidence about the alleged involvement.
India’s foreign ministry and a government spokesperson did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Balochistan Health Department spokesperson Wasim Baig said seven more people had died in hospital since Friday, causing the rise in the death toll, adding that more patients remained in critical condition.
At least five people were killed in a second attack on Friday on a mosque in northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Police filed a report on Saturday to initiate an investigation and said they had sent the suicide attacker’s DNA for analysis.
No group has claimed responsibility for either attack. A wave of militant attacks in Pakistan’s western provinces has cast a shadow over election preparations and public campaigns ahead of national elections in January, but so far attacks have mainly targeted security forces.
The Pakistani Taliban (TTP), responsible for some of the bloodiest attacks in Pakistan since the group’s founding in 2007, denied responsibility for Friday’s explosions. REUTERS
