Pakistan: At least 17 killed in explosion in Balochistan May 12

Event

A bombing targeting Deputy Senate Chairman Abdul Ghafoor Haideri killed at least 17 people and injured many others in Balochistan’s Mastung district on Friday, May 12. The blast occurred near a crowded mosque shortly after Friday prayers. The attack seemed to target Haideri’s convoy; Haideri was only slightly injured, however. It is unclear whether the explosion was the result of an improvised explosive device (IED) or a suicide bombing. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack as of yet, but the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is the likely culprit.

This is a developing situation; the casualty toll is likely to rise in the coming hours.

Context

Balochistan province, located in north-central Pakistan, has been wracked by violence in recent months and years, due in large part to a prominent arms smuggling route that runs through it. Car bombs, suicide bombings, and armed attacks are common. These often target the Balochistan Frontier Corps and local police forces, as well as lawyers. In 2016 alone, there were well more than 100 terrorism-related deaths in the provincial capital of Quetta. At least 70 people were killed and dozens wounded in the Quetta Civil Hospital bombing in August 2016 that targeted the emergency wing of the hospital where a group of mourners, many of them lawyers, were gathered after a colleague was shot by assailants in the city earlier in the day. The attack was claimed by Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a splinter faction of the TTP.

Advice

Individuals present in the region are advised to avoid the affected area and to follow all instructions issued by the authorities.

Due to a high threat from terrorism, as well as kidnapping and sectarian violence throughout Pakistan, some Western governments advise their citizens against nonessential travel to the country as foreign nationals, and in particular Westerners, may be directly targeted.