Four killed in Kuchlak mosque blast

QUETTA: At least four people were killed after a loud explosion rocked a mosque located in Kuchlak area on the outskirts of Quetta, police said.

Twenty-two others were also wounded in the blast that took place after Friday prayers, Inspector General of Balochistan Police Mohsin Hassan Butt said. They were shifted to Civil Hospital, Quetta.

The Imam of the mosque inside the madrisa, located 25km from the city of Quetta, was killed in the explosion, IG Butt said. “The blast was carried out through a time device that was planted under the wooden chair of the Imam,” said Quetta police chief Abdul Razzaq Cheema.

No group has claimed responsibility for the blast. “The death toll could increase as some of the victims are seriously injured,” Shafqat Janjua, a police official, said. TV footage showed the blast caused extensive damage to the walls and ceiling of the madrassa. Meanwhile, the brother of the leader of the Afghan Taliban was among the killed. Taliban leader Haibatullah Akhundzada was not in the mosque when the bomb went off but his younger brother, Hafiz Ahmadullah, was among those killed.“We lost younger brother of Sheikh Haibatullah Akhundzada in a bomb blast,” said a senior member of the Taliban who declined to be identified. Akhundzada’s son was wounded, one of the sources said.