24 killed in Pakistan multiple blasts
PESHAWAR: Multiple blasts killed at least 24 people in two Pakistani cities on the last Friday of Ramadan yesterday as officials warned the toll could rise.
Authorities said 11 people were killed and 24 wounded when twin blasts tore through a market in a mainly Shia area of Pakistan’s tribal belt, crowded with shoppers preparing for Aidilfitri, marking the end of Ramadan.
The first of the two blasts detonated during rush hour at the market in the northwestern city of Parachinar, capital of Kurram tribal district, near here, local official Nasrullah Khan said.
“When people rushed to the site to rescue those injured, a second blast took place,” he said.
A second official confirmed the explosions and toll.
“We fear that the death toll will increase,” Khan said.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif called for security to be beefed up across the country as he condemned the attack, saying that no Muslim could ever imagine committing such a “horrific” act.
The twin blasts in Parachinar followed a bombing earlier in he day outside the office of the inspector-general of police in southwestern Quetta, capital of the insurgency-wracked Balochistan province, that killed at least 13 people.
Investigators said the attack was targeted at the police. It was claimed by both the local affiliate of the Islamic State group and an offshoot of the Pakistani Taliban, according to the SITE monitoring group.
There was no immediate explanation for the dual claims.
“The death toll has climbed to 13. Around 20 are injured, mostly by shrapnel,” said Fareed Ahmad, a medical superintendent at Quetta’s Civil Hospital.
Police officials said nine policemen were among the dead.