At least 50 killed, dozens injured in blast in Pakistan

At least 50 people have been killed and more than 50 injured in a suicide attack in Pakistan, police say.

The blast happened near a mosque in the southwestern province of Balochistan on Friday as people gathered to celebrate the birth of the Prophet Muhammad. Officials in Balochistan have declared a state of emergency. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Meanwhile, a separate blast has taken place at a mosque near Peshawar City in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The number of casualties at the mosque in Hangu near Peshawar is not yet known but police say a number of people could be trapped under rubble after the roof collapsed.

The mosque in Hangu is part of a police complex that has a capacity of 40 to 50 people, local police told the BBC.

Footage from the scene in the Balochistan city of Mastung showed the injured being rescued by emergency responders and locals.

Balochistan’s police chief Abdul Khaliq Sheikh confirmed the explosion was a suicide blast. He said a senior police officer was killed while trying to stop the attacker.

Pakistan’s Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti said the blast was a “very heinous act” and condemned what he called “the terrorist attacks” in Balochistan and Hangu.

Bordering Afghanistan and Iran, Balochistan is Pakistan’s largest province and has frequently been hit by armed fighters including the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) or the Pakistani Taliban, and the Islamic State group.

However the TTP have denied involvement in Friday’s blast, saying in a statement that such an attack was against its policies.

Earlier this month, at least eleven people including a prominent Muslim leader were injured in an explosion in the same district. In July, more than 40 people were killed in a suicide bombing in north-western Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province at a religious political party’s gathering.

(BBC)