QUETTA: As
many as 23 Shia pilgrims were killed and many injured in bomb explosions
and firing incidents in Taftan tehsil, some 932 kilometers from Quetta,
on Sunday night.
“The attackers barged into the Al-Murtaza hotel and Hashmi hotel located in Taftan minutes after the pilgrims arrived at the hotels. Independent sources from Taftan said that the attackers hurled hand grenades and opened indiscriminate fire with modern weapons killing 23 people on the spot.
Confirming the incident, officials of the levies, a sort of tribal police, told The News that as the pilgrims, who were on their way from Iran to Quetta reached Taftan — a Pakistani town located at the Pak-Iran border — they were housed in the hotels. As they entered the hotels, some armed men who were chasing them attacked them with hand grenades and opened fire.
The reports said that the firing was so sudden and intense that the victims could not resist and over 30 people sustained bullets injuries. Of them, 23 people breathed their last on the spot and many others sustained injuries, some of them serious.
Officials of the levies force said that soon after the incident, a heavy contingents of the levies force and other law enforcement agencies rushed to the spot and cordoned off the area. The officials of the levies added that an exchange of firing took place between the levies and the unknown gunmen. Later, the armed men fled from the scene leaving behind the deceased in a pool of blood.
Some reports said there was a suicide attack at the Hashmi hotel during the firing incident. However, there was no official confirmation till our going to the press.Meanwhile, Shia leader Allama Sajid Ali Naqvi in a statement strongly condemned the attack while the Majlise Wahdate Muslimeen (MWM) censured the government for failing to provide security to the Zaireen.
“The attackers barged into the Al-Murtaza hotel and Hashmi hotel located in Taftan minutes after the pilgrims arrived at the hotels. Independent sources from Taftan said that the attackers hurled hand grenades and opened indiscriminate fire with modern weapons killing 23 people on the spot.
Confirming the incident, officials of the levies, a sort of tribal police, told The News that as the pilgrims, who were on their way from Iran to Quetta reached Taftan — a Pakistani town located at the Pak-Iran border — they were housed in the hotels. As they entered the hotels, some armed men who were chasing them attacked them with hand grenades and opened fire.
The reports said that the firing was so sudden and intense that the victims could not resist and over 30 people sustained bullets injuries. Of them, 23 people breathed their last on the spot and many others sustained injuries, some of them serious.
Officials of the levies force said that soon after the incident, a heavy contingents of the levies force and other law enforcement agencies rushed to the spot and cordoned off the area. The officials of the levies added that an exchange of firing took place between the levies and the unknown gunmen. Later, the armed men fled from the scene leaving behind the deceased in a pool of blood.
Some reports said there was a suicide attack at the Hashmi hotel during the firing incident. However, there was no official confirmation till our going to the press.Meanwhile, Shia leader Allama Sajid Ali Naqvi in a statement strongly condemned the attack while the Majlise Wahdate Muslimeen (MWM) censured the government for failing to provide security to the Zaireen.
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