Four worshippers martyred in blast inside mosque in Quetta suburbs

QUETTA: At least four people were killed and 21 wounded when a power bomb ripped through a religious seminary in a Kuchlach village, some 59km from the provincial capital Quetta on Friday.

“It was timed device. It exploded before Friday prayers as people were gathering inside a mosque adjacent to Madrassah Al Haj Muhammad Hassani in Killi Wazir on the outskirts of Quetta,” SHO Kuchlach police station Tanzeem Shah said.

The madrassah administrator, Al Hajj Muhammad Hassani, is in Saudi Arabia to perform the annual Hajj pilgrimage.

Law enforcers and rescuers rushed to evacuate the casualties to hospital. The area was cordoned off for experts to collect vital forensic evidence.

Police surgeon Dr Ayesha Faiz said most of the injured were in a critical condition and shifted to Trauma Center Quetta for specialized treatment.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack which was a second on mosques in Quetta. Three people – including the prayer leader – were killed in a blast inside a mosque at Quetta’s Pashtoonabad area on May 23.

SHO Shah said it wasn’t immediately clear who was the target. “Investigations are ongoing. As soon as we find any leads, then we would share with the media,” he added.

Hayatullah, a student at the madrassah said he was awakened by the loud bang. “I rushed to the mosque where I saw bodies everywhere and injured crying for help,” he told The Express Tribune.

Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan Aliyani strongly condemned the blast and renewed his pledge to purge the province of the menace of terrorism.