Death Toll From Pakistan Blast Rises to 50

On Friday, an explosion occurred near a mosque when people were gathering to celebrate Eid-e-Milad-un-Nabi, the birthday of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad, in the Kora Khan area of the Mastung district in Balochistan province.

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The blast has killed at least 50 people, Aetzaz Ahmed Goraya, deputy inspector general of Counter-Terrorism Department Police in the provincial capital city of Quetta, told Xinhua.

The police official said that over 50 others sustained injuries in the bomb blast, and dozens are still under treatment in hospitals, adding that the death toll might further rise as several among the injured are in critical condition. According to the preliminary reports and police investigation, it was a suicide attack. No group has claimed responsibility for the blast yet.

In the last 20 years, there have been 13 bloody attacks on mosques and temples in Pakistan. The first of these occurred on July 4, 2003 when an attack against a Shiite mosque in Qüetta, near the border with Afghanistan, left 53 dead.

Before this week’s attacks, 100 people were killed and 53 others injured during a suicide attack at a mosque in Peshawar on January 30.

On Friday, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kanaani condemned a deadly “terrorist” bomb attack at a religious gathering in Pakistan’s southwestern province of Balochistan.

Kanaani also expressed condolences to the Pakistani government and people, particularly the victims’ families, and prayed for the speedy recovery of those injured in the incident.

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