Islamabad, Pakistan— A suicide bomber detonated a powerful device near a mosque during a religious gathering to celebrate the birthday of Islam’s Prophet Mohammad, resulting in a tragic attack that claimed the lives of at least 52 people and left around 70 others injured. This deadly incident targeted both worshipers and police. Another attack, targeting a different mosque, took the lives of at least 5 people.
Local officials revealed that the explosion in Pakistan’s Mastung district in the Baluchistan province specifically aimed at the procession as worshipers were leaving the mosque. Baluchistan has been facing a nationalist rebellion and has experienced multiple attacks by the ISIS faction operating in the region. While no group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, the Pakistani Taliban denied involvement.
ISIS-Khorasan, or ISIS-K, a branch of the terror group operating in Pakistan and Afghanistan, has been active in the Baluchistan province and has previously claimed responsibility for deadly attacks in the region. Baluch nationalists, who have been fighting for independence in the oil-rich province bordering Afghanistan and Iran, usually target security officials instead of civilians.
Videos circulated on Pakistani TV stations and social media depicted the aftermath of the explosion, showing bloodied victims and body parts strewn across the blast site.
Dr. Saeed Mirwani, CEO of the local Nawab Ghous Bakhsh Raisani Memorial Hospital, informed reporters about the numerous casualties being treated at the facility. Over 20 seriously injured victims were transferred to the provincial capital of Quetta for more advanced medical care.
“The process of moving bodies and injured persons is underway,” stated the hospital CEO.
Shortly after the suicide blast in Baluchistan, another explosion occurred in a mosque in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, resulting in the deaths of at least five individuals. The blast caused the collapse of the mosque’s roof, burying about 30 to 40 people under the rubble.
Feroze Jamal, interim information minister for the provincial government, revealed that two suicide bombers were involved in the attack. One of them was killed in a shootout with the police at the mosque’s entrance, while the other detonated their device inside the building as people gathered to aid the wounded.
Pakistan’s President Arif Alvi condemned both attacks and urged authorities to provide all possible assistance to the wounded and the victims’ families. Caretaker Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti denounced the bombing as a “heinous act” that targeted individuals participating in the religious procession.
Friday had been declared a national holiday in Pakistan to commemorate Prophet Mohammad’s birthday. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan expressed its dismay at the constant state of fear experienced by the residents of Baluchistan due to deteriorating law and order. The commission insisted that those responsible for the attack must be brought to justice but also stressed that hyper-securitization would not resolve the security issues in the province.
In response to the explosions in Baluchistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, police in Punjab, the most populous province, and Karachi, the largest city, declared increased security measures around mosques during Friday prayers.
The bombing on Friday ranks among the worst attacks in Pakistan in the past decade. In 2014, the Taliban perpetrated an attack on an army-run school in Peshawar, resulting in the deaths of 147 people, mostly schoolchildren. In late January, over 100 individuals, mostly police officers, were killed in an attack on a mosque within a high-security compound housing the Peshawar
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