Minister says ‘foreign hand’ behind deadly Quetta blast
China strongly condemns the suicide bombing at the luxury hotel; TTP claims atack; we are on full alert and keeping an eye on all internal and external threats, says PM
Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid on Thursday said that external elements are trying to destabilise Pakistan.
Addressing a press conference in the federal capital, Rashid strongly condemned the Queta blast which claimed the lives of five people and said that he has directed the chief secretary to investigate the incident.
He said that elements who cannot digest the progress of Pakistan are trying to create unrest and revealed that 200,000 to 300,000 social media accounts were formed in the last 10 days to target Pakistan.
The interior minister said that Balochistan and Gwadar are the future of Pakistan and China is the closest friend of Pakistan and reiterated that armed forces of Pakistan won the fight against terrorism ater laying down thousands of lives.
China said on Thursday it “strongly condemns” the bombing of the luxury hotel in southwestern Pakistan, which killed at least five people.
Describing the bombing as a “terrorist atack,” foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said the Chinese delegation was not present when the explosion occurred in the car park of the hotel in Balochistan province, where the military is fighting an insurgency and China has strategic infrastructure interests.
We will not allow this monster to re-emerge,” tweeted Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan.
“We are on full alert and keeping an eye on all internal and external threats.”
Analysts warn, however, that Pakistan has yet to tackle the root causes of extremism.
Rashid said Pakistan was a great nation and with the help of its great armed forces and intelligence agencies, will thwart all evil designs as well as conspiracies being hatched against it.
The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the deadly suicide blast.
The bomber detonated the explosives late on Wednesday while inside a vehicle in the car park of the Serena hotel — part of a five-star chain popular with diplomats and aid agencies — in the city of Queta, capital of Balochistan province, police and the interior ministry said.
“The suicide bomber hit the security officials exactly as it was planned,” the spokesperson for
Tehrik-e-taliban Pakistan (TTP) said in a statement.
The country’s interior minister confirmed a suicide bomber had carried out the atack, as he pinned the blame on a “foreign hand.”
“We had the reports of a possible atack. TTP itself said the oufit is active. We have defeated the TTP in the past,” Rashid said.
“The forces working against Pakistan’s development wanted to destabilise the peace of the country. Gwadar is Pakistan’s future and China is Pakistan’s time-tested friend,” Rashid said.
The minister said security has been beefed up in the country and forces and spy agencies are working to safeguard the country as they had laid down their lives to protect the soil in the past.
Rashid vowed to fail the conspiracy being hatched in neighbouring countries. “We already handed over many pickets of Frontier Constabulary (FC) to the police and were ready to give more pickets but this is not possible now,” he added.
Responding to a question, the interior minister clarified the Chinese ambassador was in Queta for the past few days and is safe. He rejected speculation that the Chinese ambassador was at the hotel when the blast took place, saying that the diplomat was somewhere else.
He said that the Chinese ambassador to Pakistan is still in Queta but at someplace other than the hotel and is safe ater last night suicide atack.
Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Nong Rong also tweeted on Thursday, “Impressive visit of Rashakai Special Economic Zone (SEZ) and effective communication with all stakeholders in regard to the SEZ to secure its development and growth.”
The minister said a forensic investigation was being conducted into the atack, adding that so far, the terrorists have not been identified yet.
Rashid said that the suicide bomber remained in the car with 60kg to 80kg explosives (C-4 type) when he carried out the atack at around 10:15pm.
Sources said that one police official is among the dead. At least 11 persons injured in the blast are still under treatment at the Civil Hospital Queta.