At least 52 people were killed and several dozen injured in an explosion on Friday, September 29, near a mosque in the Balochistan province of Pakistan, a health official reported, cited by the American news agency AP and the pakistani newspaper Dawn. Local authorities attributed the explosion to a kamikaze attack.
The explosion occurred as the public gathered for a procession to mark the anniversary of the birth of the Prophet Muhammad, said a Mastung district official, quoted by the local media. Shortly after the blast, Punjab Police said on X (formerly Twitter) that its agents provided security during prayers in mosques in the province.
“A procession of hundreds of people left the Madina mosque and when it reached the Al-Falah road, a suicide bomber targeted it”Abdul Razzaq Sasoli, a local administration official, told Agence France-Presse.
“Terrorist elements”
In Karachi, the Pakistani Interior Ministry confirmed an explosion caused by “terrorist elements”. “The attack on innocent people who came to participate in the Mawlid procession is a heinous act”, the ministry said in a statement. Balochistan Information Minister Jan Achakzai appealed for blood donations to treat the injured. He also decreed three days of mourning.
Every year on this occasion, mosques and public buildings in Pakistan are illuminated as worshipers walk in procession to mark the birth anniversary of the Prophet Muhammad.
In April 2006, a suicide attack on a Sunni procession marking the same event left at least fifty people dead in the city of Karachi. The attack was never claimed, but three men from the fundamentalist group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi were charged. Balochistan is home to several separatist groups.
The Pakistani Taliban said it was not involved in Friday’s attack. “The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan has no connection with this attack, our position on bomb attacks in public places is unequivocal”said the group.