26 June, 2017
At least 27 people have been killed and about 120 others wounded as two bombs went off in Parachinar, northern Pakistan.
The first explosion was in the city's busiest Turi market, where residents were shopping for the upcoming Muslim eid festival, Wazir said, adding that the other blast occurred at the same location as rescue operations were in progress.
No militant group has yet claimed responsibility but similar attacks in Balochistan have been claimed by Pakistani Taliban sprinter group Jammat ul Ahrar and Lashkar-e-Jehngwi al-Alami, an ally of IS in Afghanistan. Another explosion shook the area soon after a large number of people rushed to the site to help the injured.
According to a senior official, the toll increased after 22 people succumbed to their injuries on Saturday, reports Xinhua news agency.
"We have received 50 bodies so far, and 250 were wounded", said Sabir Hussain, medical superintendent of Parachinar Hospital. The Quetta attack was claimed by a breakaway Taliban faction and the Islamic State group. More than 20 people among the wounded are in critical condition.The emergency services shifted all the injured to Agency Headquarters hospital Parachinar.
Also on Friday, gunmen riding motorcycles shot dead four policemen, spraying bullets at them while they were eating dinner at a roadside restaurant in the port megacity of Karachi.
The attack took place Friday morning near the office of the Inspector-General of Police in Quetta, the capital of southwestern Baluchistan province, police spokesman Shahzada Farhat said.
On March 31, a vehicle bomb blast near an Imambargah of Shia Muslims killed 23 people and injured 70 others in Parachinar.
There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the Parachinar blasts.
Militants loyal to the Islamic State group abducted and killed two Chinese nationals in Quetta last month.
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif strongly condemned the attacks and directed authorities to beef up security arrangements across the country, according to a statement by his office.
Friday's auto bombing in Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province, was powerful enough that it was heard across the city, shattering windows on nearby buildings, said police spokesman Shahzada Farhat.
In January, 25 people were killed and 87 others when a bomb tore through a crowded vegetable market in the same city. It also warned to launch an operation against security forces.
The army has also been fighting in mineral-rich Balochistan, the country's most restive province, since 2004, with hundreds of soldiers and militants killed.
