People gather at the site of twin blasts in Ancholi area of Karachi. PHOTO: MUHAMMAD NOMAN/EXPRESS
Twin explosions ripped through shops and vehicles on the main road leading to Ancholi on Friday, killing at least five people and injuring over 50 others.
The first blast took place outside a paan shop in a crowded area. Minutes later, the second blast, yards away from the first, took place outside a restaurant. Both the blasts were almost of the same intensity.
Initial reports claimed the blasts were caused by improvised explosive devices (IED). However, officials did not say whether these were timed devices or detonated by remote control.
Around 10 shops along with nearby vehicles were damaged in the twin blasts.
The blasts occured in a largely Shia populated area, forcing residents to take to the streets. This made it difficult for the police and paramilitary Rangers to cordon off the area.
The injured were taken to different hospitals including the Abbasi Shaeed Hospital. Speaking to The Express Tribune, DSP Shahid Abbas said they were still trying to confirm the casualties as the victims were taken to different hospitals.
“The miscreants took advantage of the security forces relaxing after the protests were over,” he said.
Majlis Wahadat-e-Muslimeen deputy secretary general Allama Sadiq Raza Taqvi condemned the attack, saying that the elements who wanted to promote sectarian violence in the country were behind the attack. The Muttahida Qaumi Movement announced a peaceful day of mourning.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 23rd, 2013.
COMMENTS (13)
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Pakistan is passing through sorry state of affairs when on one hand Lifetime Chairman PTI Imran Khan is showing unity with TTP by protesting against drone attacks in his own province (& violating the law by blocking thorough fares) and on the other hand brutal animals of TTP are killing hundreds of innocent people in Pakistan... Imran Khan, being a failed politician is advocating a wrong cause to divert media attention from his failures. Hence proven that TTP and PTI are 2 sides of the same coin. Down with TTPPTI !
coward act ...God Bless All ... Love from India
@expat: What other way do you think will work? Unless or untill they are brought to the negotiating table and worked out through means other than gunpowder and bombs - these things will continue to happen.
Media boycotted the coverage of Rawalpindi slaughter on the pretext of being "responsible". I wonder why no sense of responsibility is shown by media this time!!!
Pakistan is very close to disintegration, unfortunately many people are unaware of this cynical plan.
@saeed:
Why are you blaming the US for the sectarian violence in Pakistan?
The biggest enemy is your security establishment and your civilian government.
Feel sorry for the innocent lives, its horrible but as Hillary Clinton rightly says, 'Snakes in your backyard, wont bite only neighbours'. Its hard to feel sorry for Pakistan after knowing that the state has nurtured these terrorists to hurt India, Afghanistan and the rest of the world. I am sure that most Pakistanis will blame external influences and bury their heads in the sand but the truth remains in the headlines ie Pakistanis killed.
Very sad incident. Actually, casualties are much higher than four as reported. Many of the more than 60-70 injured are in critical conditions. I pray for their recovery. This begs another question as to how many of the injured in the past blasts actually have succumbed to their injuries? Judging by the conditions of the public hospitals, the numbers may be be very high. :(
@saeed:
Mr, Saeed, after the war on terror, Pakistan went from being an Islamic brother against god less communism and Soviet expansion to a country supporting brutes that harmed civilians more than anything opposing the right to self determination for Afghans.
Next time you point a finger, look at your hand, three fingers will be pointing right back at you.
*We have come to this point after 40 years of state initiated intolerance and sectarianism. The law makers unfortunately took on the responsibility to identify faith of the citizen's of Pakistan in 1974, which led the nation on to a seemingly irreversible course of bigotry and intolerance where peaceful coexistence appears to be beyond Pakistanis The three steps to the state we are in today 1. Religion brought into public domain with the question, who is or isn't a Muslim, it was forgotten that if a person professes to be a Muslim, no human being or any piece of legislation can take that right away from him 2. After having successfully eroding civil rights, the next thing the people of Pakistan set out to do was to identify who is and isn't a good Muslim 3. when the not so good Muslims were identified, the next decision was what to do with the not so great Muslims hence the killings and ordinary citizens turned into killers
There seems to be no end in sight to this insanity, until the law of 1974 is repealed and the nation is led on to the path of moral and intellectual recovery and
Yes lets negotiate with these people. Nevermind the innocent victims, the losses to families, business owners. Lets just talk to these monsters and hope for a change.
Really sorry to hear. Stay safe, guys. Wishing you peace, from India.
What have we done to our country...the establishment and political parties have used sectarian groups for there interests over the years..and now this monster is the biggest threat to the social fabric of our country..I just cant understand one thing...Why the extremism..sectarianism and other forms of different terrorism activities in Pakistan have risen sharply since when we joined Americas war on terror..Was Pakistan a better place to live before we joined this war or after we joined it...on top of that the incompetent governments made things worse..