At least 52 killed in twin suicide bombing in Pakistan
PESHAWAR (Reuters) – The death toll from a pair of coordinated suicide bombs targeting Shi’ites in a volatile Pakistani town near the Afghan border rose to 52 overnight.
Tensions between Shi’ites and Pakistan’s majority Sunnis have risen in past years, with Sunni Islamist groups frequently attacking Shi’ites whom they see as heretics.
On Friday evening, two suicide bombers on motorcycles struck in the northwestern town of Parachinar just as people flocked to a busy marketplace to buy food for their evening meals after a day of fasting during Ramadan.
Riaz Mahsud, the top administrator of the predominantly Shi’ite Kurram area, said the death toll, originally reported at 39, jumped to 52 after several people died from their wounds during the night. All the victims were Shi’ites, he said.
A previously unknown group called Ansarul Mujahideen claimed responsibility for the attack.
“We plan more similar attacks against the Shi’ite community in Pakistan to seek revenge for the brutalities of Shi’ites against Sunnis in Syria and Iraq,” Abu Baseer, who identified himself as a spokesman for the group, told Reuters by telephone.
Parachinar is home to a significant Shi’ite community that has been previously targeted by terrorists. Shi’ites make up a little over 10 percent of Pakistan’s population of 180 million.
Separately, gunmen attacked a coast guard checkpoint in the volatile southwestern region of Baluchistan near the Iranian border, firing rockets and killing seven security officials, the region’s Home Secretary Akbar Durrani said.
A banned group known as the Baloch Liberation Front claimed responsibility for the attack, saying its fighters had killed 25 security personnel and kidnapped two soldiers. Two gunmen were killed, its spokesman said.