ISIS blast at Pakistan shrine kills 43
Taliban claims explosion that kills 4 Americans at Kabul NATO base
QUETTA, Pakistan/KABUL (Reuters) – An explosion claimed by Islamic State ripped through a Muslim shrine in southwestern Pakistan, killing at least 43 and wounding scores. Also, a Taliban suicide bomber dressed as a laborer blew himself up at the NATO air base at Bagram, north of the Afghan capital Kabul on Saturday, killing four Americans and wounding at least 17 people.
Pakistani Provincial Home Minister Sarfaraz Bugti said 43 people were killed and local district commissioner Hashim Ghalzai said more than 100 were wounded.
“Every day, around sunset, there is a dhamaal [ritual dance] here, and there are large numbers of people who come for this,” said Nawaz Ali, the shrine’s custodian.
The shrine is located in Baluchistan province about 100 km. north of the port city of Karachi, to where rescue official Hakeem Nasi told Geo TV dozens of wounded were being moved.
The government dispatched 25 ambulances from the nearby town of Hub to the shrine, said Akbar Harifal, provincial home secretary for Baluchistan. The army was called in to assist with rescue operations, given the remoteness of the site, Bugti said.
It was not clear if the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber or a planted device, according to Bugti.
The province has seen some of the worst attacks this year in Pakistan.
Islamic State said in a statement via its Amaq news agency that its fighters had carried out Saturday’s bombing.
In Afghanistan, two US military service members and two US contractors were killed in the Kabul blast, and 16 other US service members were wounded, along with a Polish soldier who was part of the NATO mission, US Defense Secretary Ash Carter said.
“For those who carried out this attack, my message is simple. We will not be deterred in our mission to protect our homeland and help Afghanistan secure its own future,” Carter said.
He said the military will investigate what happened to determine what steps could be taken to improve protection for the base.
The attack, which was claimed by the Taliban, underlines the foreign policy challenge that will face US President-elect Donald Trump when he takes office in January.
President Barack Obama had originally hoped to have all US forces out of the country by the end of his term, but was forced to abandon that goal as Afghan forces struggled to contain the Taliban insurgency.
Under current plans, 8,400 US troops will remain as part of the Resolute Support operation and a separate US counterterrorism mission after Obama decided to slow down a planned reduction of the force, leaving it to his successor to decide future strategy.
Waheed Sediqqi, spokesman for the Parwan provincial governor, said the bomber managed to enter the heavily protected site, the largest US base in Afghanistan, and was standing in a line with Afghan laborers when he detonated a suicide vest.
The NATO-led Resolute Support mission response teams at the airfield were treating the wounded and investigating the incident.
It follows a suicide attack on the German consulate in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif late on Thursday night that killed four people and wounded more than 100 others. That attack was retaliation for air strikes near the northern city of Kunduz last week, which killed more than 30 civilians.
The Taliban’s spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said Saturday’s attack, which he said had been planned for four months, had caused heavy casualties, killing 23 Americans and wounding 44. The movement often exaggerates the number of casualties caused by its operations.