7 die in Chaman pro-Palestine rally blast

QUETTA: At least seven persons died and 13 other sustained injuries in the blast at a Palestine solidarity rally at Boghar Chowk in Chaman, Killa Abdullah district, on Friday.The rally was brought out by Jamiat Ulama-e-Islam Nazryati (JUI-N) to express solidarity with the Palestinians braving worst Israeli barbarism.

According to police sources, explosive devices attached with a parked motorbike which exploded near the vehicle of JUI-N Vice Amir Maulana Abdul Qadir Loni, who was leading the rally.Pictures from the scene showed broken glass, rubble, and bloodstains. "It was an improvised explosive device which went off as participants began to disperse," added Tariq Mengal, a senior local administration official. No group has claimed responsibility. Maulana Lone luckily escaped in the explosion, which killed at least six participants of the rally. The law enforcement agencies immediately reached the site and started rescue operation. The dead bodies and injured were shifted to the District Headquarters Hospital where emergency was declared.

Four of the injured were referred to Quetta Civil Hospital in view of their critical condition. The dead were identified as Muhammad Ibrahim, Abdul Qadir, Muhammad Ture, Abdul Rasheed and Mehmood-ul Hassan. The injured included Attahullah, Arshad, Muhammad Hanif, Pashtoon, Muhammad Sadiq, Zabiullah, Fazal Muhammad, Abdul Baseer, Hikmatullah, Azamtullah, Muhammad Iqbal, Malik Anayatullah, and Nematullah.Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Farrukh Habib strongly condemned the blast.

Farrukh Habib, in a statement, said the armed forces and law enforcement agencies were struggling to eliminate terrorism from the country.

Expressing his deep grief over the loss of precious lives in the cowardly act of terrorism, he said the government stood with the victims'' families in the hour of grief.

He prayed to the Almighty to grant patience and courage to the bereaved families to bear the loss.