Karachi: The Islamic State Saturday claimed responsibility for a suicide attack that killed 21 people and wounded more than 50 others in Quetta, the provincial capital of Pakistan’s restive Balochistan province.
A suicide bomber blew himself in the Hazarganj fruits and vegetable market in Quetta Friday morning, in an attack believed to be targeting the minority Hazara Shia community.
The ISIS Saturday released a photograph of the suicide attacker along with his name and said the attack targeted Shia Muslims, according to the Site Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadist activities.
Involvement of the hostile neighbour and other external forces could not be ruled out as such blasts appeared to be a conspiracy to incite sectarian clashes and destabilise Pakistan
Rehman Malik| Senator, Pakistan
“The Islamic State’s Khorasan Province (ISKP) claimed killing and wounding 70 Hazara Shias and Pakistani soldiers in a suicide bombing in Quetta,” it said.
The Pakistani officials have repeatedly denied presence of the ISIS in the country, but the Middle Eastern terror group has claimed a number of attacks in the past.
Friday, a faction of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it collaborated with the banned Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ).
The LeJ is a Sunni militant group, which has claimed responsibility for several deadly attacks against the minority Shia community in Pakistan, including the 2013 blasts in Quetta that killed over 200 Hazara Shias.
Meanwhile Saturday, a Pakistani Senate panel sought a report from the interior ministry on the action taken against terrorists and banned outfits involved in the killing of Hazaras in restive Balochistan province.
A meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Interior took serious notice of the two deadly terror attacks in Balochistan Friday. The Senate panel also sought a report about the release of activists of the banned outfits in the near past in Balochistan.
Senator Rehman Malik, who heads the committee, said the involvement of the “hostile neighbour and other external forces” could not be ruled out as such blasts appeared to be a conspiracy to incite sectarian clashes and destabilise Pakistan.
Meanwhile, the Hazara community members are continuing a sit-in on the main Western Bypass road in Quetta to protest against what they term as the persistent failure of law enforcement agencies to provide them security.
The sit-in started soon after the suicide blast; demanding an effective security plan to ensure the protection of the Hazara Shia community.
The National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR) last year stated that 509 members of the Hazara community were killed and 627 injured in various incidents of terrorism in Quetta from January 2012 to December 2017.