Mastung aftermath: 27 new graves in Alamdar Road graveyard
Victims buried today after days of protest against killings of pilgrims.
A man holds picture of his relative, a victim of Mastung bomb attack on a bus, beside the covered body, during a funeral in Quetta January 24, 2014. PHOTO: REUTERS
QUETTA:
Twenty seven graves were dug in a cemetery on the Alamdar Road, Quetta for the burial of the victims of Mastung bus bombing, Express News reported on Friday.
On January 21, Shia pilgrims were killed when a suicide bomber hit a bus making its way through the Pakistan-Iran highway in Mastung. Banned outfit Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) claimed responsibility of the attack.
The killings triggered mass protests in the country and the Hazara community refused to bury their dead. However, they ended their two-day long sit-in after Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar assured them of launching a targeted operation against the Mastung blast perpetrators.
The funeral prayer for the dead was offered today and their bodies will be laid to rest in Alamdar Road area which is predominantly a Hazara neighbourhood.
Attack
Two buses with 103 pilgrims onboard were en route to Quetta from Taftan, a town in Chagai district that shares a border with Iran.
The bomber struck one of the buses when it reached Dirangar village in Mastung, some 45 kilometres west of Quetta.
A BDS official said around 100 kilograms of explosive materials were used in the blast.
According to witnesses, the bus was reduced to a heap of mangled metal, while four other vehicles – including two mobile vans of Balochistan Levies, were also damaged in the attack. Windows of the second bus were shattered by the thud of the blast.
Twenty seven graves were dug in a cemetery on the Alamdar Road, Quetta for the burial of the victims of Mastung bus bombing, Express News reported on Friday.
On January 21, Shia pilgrims were killed when a suicide bomber hit a bus making its way through the Pakistan-Iran highway in Mastung. Banned outfit Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) claimed responsibility of the attack.
The killings triggered mass protests in the country and the Hazara community refused to bury their dead. However, they ended their two-day long sit-in after Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar assured them of launching a targeted operation against the Mastung blast perpetrators.
The funeral prayer for the dead was offered today and their bodies will be laid to rest in Alamdar Road area which is predominantly a Hazara neighbourhood.
Attack
Two buses with 103 pilgrims onboard were en route to Quetta from Taftan, a town in Chagai district that shares a border with Iran.
The bomber struck one of the buses when it reached Dirangar village in Mastung, some 45 kilometres west of Quetta.
A BDS official said around 100 kilograms of explosive materials were used in the blast.
According to witnesses, the bus was reduced to a heap of mangled metal, while four other vehicles – including two mobile vans of Balochistan Levies, were also damaged in the attack. Windows of the second bus were shattered by the thud of the blast.