At least 52 dead and more than 50 injured in Pakistan in an attack on a religious celebration

The number of fatalities following a suicide attack this Friday at a mosque in the province of Balochistanin the south of Pakistanincreased to 52 and the number of injured to more than 50, authorities told EFE.

“The death toll reached 52 and there are more than 50 injured“, indicated the police officer from the city police station. Mastungin Balochistanwhere the attack occurred, Mohammad Javed Lehri.

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Among the dead was found “a senior police officer who was on duty to provide protection to the religious procession”, the agent added.

The attack took place in front of a mosque during a religious holiday Eid-e-Miladun Nabian auspicious event in which Muslims honor the birth anniversary of the prophet Mohammedanother police official told EFE. Mastung, Zubair Baloch.

So far, no group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

This is the second explosion to occur in Mustang this month. On September 14, eleven people, including the leader of the religious party Jamiat Ulema Islam (JUI), Hafiz Hamdullahwere injured due to an explosion near the vehicle in which they were traveling on the highway Queta–Karachi.

At the end of last July, this political formation suffered a suicide attack during a rally, which caused at least 63 dead and 120 injuredand which was claimed by state jihadist group Islamic Khorasana local branch of the terrorist group.

After learning what happened, the interim Minister of the Interior of Pakistan, Sarfraz Bugticondemned on platform X (formerly Twitter) “the atrocious attack against Mastung” and assured that the government will use all available resources to guarantee assistance to victims and improve security in the country.

“We are committed to a policy of tolerance zero against terrorists”, stated Bugti.

For his part, the head of the interim government of Balochistan, Mir Ali Mardan Domkiannounced three days of mourning to express solidarity with the families of the deceased, as reported in X by the acting provincial Minister of Information. Jan Achakzai.

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Increase in violence

The attack comes amid an increase in armed violence in Pakistan since the rise to power of the Afghan Taliban in Kabul in August 2021, which reactivated attacks by its Pakistani ideological brothers, especially in the border provinces with Afghanistan from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.

This last province is also usual scene of violencewith the presence of armed groups, Taliban factions and jihadist groups.

The country witnessed 271 militant attacks during the first half of the yearin which 389 people died and another 656 were injured, according to a report published in early July by Pakistan Institute of Security and Conflict Studies.

A significant increase in numbers compared to the same period in 2022, when Pakistan It suffered 151 attacks that caused 293 deaths and 487 injuries.

Source: Elcomercio

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I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.