Quetta: Two dead, 31 injured in pilgrim bus bombing

QUETTA: At least two people were killed and scores were injured after a suicide bomber detonated a carload of explosives as a passenger bus drove past here on Wednesday evening, Geo News reported.

"So far, there have been two deaths, while the count of the injured has risen to 31", Information minister of Balochistan, Abdul Raheem, confirmed.

As per initial reports the target of this sectarian terrorist act was a bus full of pilgrims coming from Iran. The blast struck the bus at Akhtarabad bypass on Qamberani Road in the provincial capital of Balochistan.

CCPO Quetta, Abdul Razzaq Cheema, said the bus had just entered Quetta after crossing Pakistan-Iran border when the bomber struck.

He said the bus was carrying at least 46 pilgrims, who were coming back home after visiting holy places in Iran.

"An explosives-laden-car which was parked along the roadside blew up as the bus passed by it, killing two people and wounding 17 people,” Cheema added.

According to sources gunshots were also fired after the bomb went off.

The bus caught fire after the explosion. The TV footage aired by Geo News showed the unfortunate bus burning brightly in the dark while sporadic firing was still in progress.

The blaze was extinguished after a long struggle, but not before it gutted the bus beyond recognition.

After initial investigation, Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) concluded that a suicide bomber used a vehicle borne improvised explosive device (VBIED) to perpetrate the attack.

"About 80-100 kilograms of explosive was used in the bomb. It is surmised that the car was blown up by somebody sitting in it as apposed to earlier speculations of collision-car-suicide-bombing", a BDS official said.

Heavy contingents of Frontier Corps (FC) and police officials reached and cordoned off the blast site.

Some of the injured were rushed to Bolan Medical Complex (BMC), while others have been moved to Combined Military Hospital (CMH). The sources, however, added that no women or children were among the injured ambulanced to the hospitals so far.

A police vehicle, which was escorting the pilgrims’ bus, was also damaged in the blast. "At least four policemen also sustained injuries in the attack", CCPO Cheema said.

Police officials who had been escorting the bus rescued passengers from the wreckage before it caught fire, CCPO Cheema claimed.

Senior local police official Muhammad Jaffer also confirmed the incident and casualties.

Authorities fear more deaths keeping in view the intensity of the blast.

Nobody has so far claimed responsibility for the attack but there has been a rise in sectarian violence in Pakistan after several deadly clashes between Sunni and Shia Muslim groups near Islamabad in November last year.

Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and President Mamnoon Hussain have strongly condemned terrorist attack.

In his condolence message, the PM said the perpetrators of such heinous crimes were doing no service to Islam and the country.

"My sympathies are with the families of the victims. I pray for the departed souls and for early recovery of those injured in the tragic incident".

He reiterated the government s resolve to eliminate terrorism from the country to establish durable peace.

Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader Altaf Hussain, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan, Awami National Party chief Asfandyar Wali also decried the attack in the strongest of words.

Meanwhile, Majlis-e-Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM), in its condemnatory reaction to the terrorist attack, picked apart the government for failing to provide protection to the citizens of Pakistan.

An MWM spokesperson also announced observance of three days of mourning across Pakistan.