Azaranica is a non-biased news aggregator on Hazaras. The main aim is to promote understanding and respect for cultural identities by highlighting the realities they face on daily basis...Hazaras have been the victim of active persecution and discrimination and one of the reasons among many has been the lack of information, awareness, and disinformation.

Thursday, January 10, 2013

57 KILLED IN TWIN SUICIDE BLASTS IN PAKISTAN'S QUETTA






QUETTA, Pakistan (AFP) - At least 57 people were killed and 110 wounded when two suicide bombers blew themselves up at a crowded snooker club in the southwestern city of Quetta on Thursday, a senior police officer said.

The first suicide bomber detonated his device inside the club, then about 10 minutes later another attacker in a car outside the building blew himself up as police, media workers and rescue teams rushed to the site, officer Mir Zubair Mehmood told AFP.

"The two attacks left 57 people dead and 110 injured," Mehmood said, adding that "both were suicide attacks, it is confirmed now".

The twin blasts, which came hours after a separate explosion in a crowded commercial area of the city left 11 dead, was the worst attack in Quetta since a suicide bomber blew himself up at a 2010 Shiite rally, killing around 50 people.

Mehmood said those killed in the twin bombings included six police officials, a local television cameraman, and several rescue workers.

Police said the bombings disrupted power supplies and plunged the area into darkness.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the two blasts.Quetta is the capital of the province of Baluchistan, one of the most deprived parts of Pakistan, which suffers from Islamist militancy, a separatist insurgency and sectarian violence.

Quetta : Alamdar Rd blasts toll hits 56

January 10, 2013 - Updated 2058 PKT
From Web Edition



QUETTA: At least 56 people including a private news channel cameraman and a DSP, were killed as two back-to-back bomb blasts hit the city Thursday evening, Geo News reported.

Sources told Geo News the first blast, was a suicide one was reported from Rehmattullah Chowk on Alamdar Road, whereas the second one which struck Airport road area nearby came minutes after the first one.

Police say the first blast was a suicide one.

"The second bomb went off by the time media, rescue, and law enforcement officials reached the spot" sources said.

Geo News team, which arrived at the site to cover the first blast however narrowly escaped the second one, but the satellite van they were in was damaged partially. The staff received minor injuries.

"The shrapnel or the flying debris, which hit the Geo News DSMG following the second blast shattered its windshield", sources said.

Police officers, mediamen, and rescue workers were also among the injured and the dead, said security sources.

DIG Hamid Shakil says the number of injured is as high as 163.

Fearing a rise in casualties, the hospital sources said some of the injured were critical.

DSP Quaidabad, Mujahid Hussain, who was injured in the second blast succumbed to his wounds later in the hospital.

The private TV cameraman who was killed on the spot was identified as Imran Shaikh. The satellite engineer of the same news channel was also wounded in the blast.

It is noted that there are two Imambargahs on Alamdar road and Hazara community makes up most of the population of this area.

The blasts caused suspension of electricity supply after they might have damaged the electricity pylons.

The above two blasts bring today's number of explosions hitting the terror-stricken city to three. At least twelve people including two children and a FC personal were killed while 40 others sustained injuries when a powerful bomb ripped through Bacha Khan Chowk earlier in the day.

Pakistan blasts: 'Dozens killed' at Quetta snooker hall

10 January 2013 Last updated at 13:09 ET



Twin blasts at a snooker hall in the south-western Pakistani city of Quetta have killed at least 50 people and injured dozens more, police say.

Many of the casualties were caused by the second blast as police and media rushed to the scene,

Earlier, a bomb in a market area killed 11 people and injured 27 more, police said.

A spokesman for a militant group, the United Baloch Army, said it had carried out that attack.

Balochistan is plagued by a separatist rebellion and sectarian infighting between Sunnis and Shias.

The Taliban and armed groups that support them also carry out attacks in the province, particularly in areas near the Afghan border. Pakistan's military has been engaged in a long-running battle against those militant groups.'Cameraman killed'

A senior police officer, Hamid Shakil, told Agence France-Presse news agency that the first bomb at the snooker exploded outside the building and that the second blast occurred 10 minutes later as rescue workers, police and media arrived.


The first blast devastated a market area

The dead reportedly included a cameraman from a television channel.

Home Secretary Akbar Durrani told AFP the bombs were in an area dominated by the minority Shia Muslim community.

TV footage of the earlier market attack showed survivors picking through debris, and emergency crews taking away the wounded.

"Frontier Corps [paramilitary] personnel were the target because the bomb was planted underneath their vehicle," senior police investigator Hamid Shakeel told AFP news agency.

The dead include one paramilitary soldier and two civilian officers.

کوئٹہ میں دھماکے، ہلاکتیں پچاس سے زائد



آخری وقت اشاعت: جمعرات 10 جنوری 2013 ,‭ 17:47 GMT 22:47 PST


کوئٹہ میں دوپہر کو ہونے والا دھماکہ مصروف مرکزی علاقے میں ہوا تھا۔

پاکستان کے صوبہ بلوچستان کے دارالحکومت کوئٹہ میں تین مختلف دھماکوں میں پچاس سے زائد افراد ہلاک جبکہ ایک سو سے زائد افراد زخمی ہو گئے ہیں۔

شام کے بعد علمدار روڈ پرہونے والے دو بم دھماکوں میں اڑتیس افراد ہلاک جبکہ اسی سے زائد زخمی ہیں۔

بلوچستان کے ہوم سیکرٹری اکبر حسین درانی نے بی بی سی سے بات کرتے ہوئے ان دھماکوں کی اور ان کے نتیجے میں ہونے والی ہلاکتوں کی تصدیق کی اور بتایا کہ پہلے دھماکے کے بعد جب امدادی کارکن اور میڈیا کے نمائندے جائے حادثہ پر پہنچے تو ایک اور دھماکہ ہوا جس میں مزید ہلاکتیں ہوئیں۔

ان دو دھماکوں میں اب تک اڑتیس افراد کے ہلاک ہونے کی تصدیق کی گئی ہے جبکہ مزید ہلاکتوں کا خدشہ ظاہر کیا جا رہا ہے۔

ہلاک ہونے والوں میں ایک نجی چینل کا کیمرہ مین عمران شیخ اور خبر رساں ادارے این این آئی کے کیمرہ مین اقبال بھی شامل ہے جبکہ اسی چینل کے رپورٹر اور ایک اہلکار شدید زخمی ہیں۔

اس کے علاوہ اسی دھماکے میں فلاحی ادارے ایدھی کے چار امدادی کارکن بھی ہلاک ہو گئے جو امدادی کارروائیوں کے لیے جائے حادثہ پر پہنچے تھے۔ ان کے ساتھ ساتھ ان کی ایمبولینسوں کو بھی نقصان پہنچا۔

زخمیوں میں پولیس کے تین اہلکار بھی شامل ہیں جن میں ایس پی خالد مسعود بھی شامل ہیں جن کی حالت انتہائی نازک بتائی جاتی ہے۔

تفصیلات کے مطابق یہ دھماکہ علمدار روڈ پر واقع ایک سنوکر کلب میں ہوا اور دھماکے کے بعد علاقے کی بجلی منقطع ہو گئی جس کی وجہ سے بہت غیر یقینی صورتحال ہے۔

اس سے قبل شہر کے مرکزی علاقے میں میزان چوک پر ایک کار بم دھماکے کے نتیجے میں بارہ افراد ہلاک اور چونتیس سے زائد زخمی ہو گئے ہیں۔

ہلاک ہونے والوں میں ایک ایف سی کا اہلکار جبکہ دو سول ملازمین بھی شامل ہیں جبکہ زخمی ہونے والوں میں ایف سی کے دس اہلکار شامل ہیں۔

کوئٹہ کے سی سی پی او زبیر محمود نے میڈیا کے نمائندوں سے بات کر تے ہوئے بتایا کہ گیارہ افراد ہلاک اور ستائیس زخمی ہو ئے ہیں۔

تفصیلات کے مطابق اس دھماکے کا ہدف ایک ایس پی کی گاڑی تھی اور یہ دھماکہ ایف سی کی ایک چوکی کے قریب ہوا جہاں ایک گاڑی کے نیچے ایک ٹائمر ڈیوائس لگا کر دھماکہ کیا گیا۔

پولیس زرائع کے مطابق اس دھماکے کے لیے پچیس سے تیس کلو دھماکہ خیز مواد استعمال کیا گیا۔

اس دھماکے کی زمہ داری یونائٹیڈ بلوچ آرمی نے قبل کر لی ہے۔

دھماکے کے نتیجے میں قریبی عمارتوں کے شیشے ٹوٹ گئے۔

اس سے قبل انتیس دسمبر 2012 کو کوئٹہ ہی میں پولیس کی ایک گاڑی پر حملے میں چار اہلکار ہلاک ہوگئے تھے اور یہ حملہ کوئٹہ کے مشرقی بائی پاس کے علاقے غوث آباد میں ہوا تھا۔

اس حملے میں پولیس کے ایک اسسٹنٹ سب انسپکٹر سمیت تین اہلکار ہلاک ہوئے تھے جبکہ گاڑی کا ڈرائیور شدید زخمی ہوگیا تھا۔

اس سے صرف دو روز قبل ستائیس دسمبر 2012 کو کوئٹہ کے سیٹلائٹ ٹاؤن ہی کے علاقے میں فائرنگ کے ایک واقعہ میں ایک خفیہ ایجنسی کے دو اہلکار ہلاک ہوگئے تھے۔

پولیس کے ذرائع کے مطابق اس طرح کے حملوں میں کوئٹہ سمیت بلوچستان کے دیگر علاقوں میں اب تک ساڑھے چار سو 
سے زائد پولیس اہلکار ہلاک ہو چکے ہیں۔

Triple blasts rip through Quetta

By Web Desk / Mohammad Zafar
Published: January 10, 2013


Thirteen cars, including FC vehicles, damaged in the blast. PHOTO: EXPRESS


QUETTA: Three blasts in Quetta on Thursday left 37 dead and many with serious injuries. The blasts took place in Shahrah-e-Iqbal and Alamdar Road area.

The second and third blasts took place near an imambargah.

Shahrah-e-Iqbal blast

At least 12 people were killed and 27 others were injured when a blast ripped through the Baacha Khan Chowk area of Shahrah-e-Iqbal, a senior police official said.

The Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Quetta Mir Zubair Mehmood confirmed the death toll, adding that details regarding the bomb attack would be divulged after further investigation.

Witnesses said children and Frontier Corps (FC) personnel were among those injured.

This is the third blast in the same area which houses a shopping plaza and a market and is generally a busy area.

The police, FC, bomb disposal squad (BDS) and rescue teams reached the scene, cordoning off the area and shifting the injured to hospitals.

20 to 25kg explosives were reportedly used in the bomb.

Express News correspondent Irfan Rana reported a two to three-foot deep crater where the blast occurred.

Thirteen cars, including FC vehicles, were damaged in the blast.

Alamdar Road blast

Two more blasts took place near an imambargah on Alamdar Road.

At least 25 people were killed and more than 100 sustained injuries in these blasts. The injured have been shifted to nearby hospitals. Few of the injured are in critical condition.

The dead include SP Khalid Masood and a private channel’s cameraman.

Quetta police and BDS have arrived at the blast site and cordoned off the area.

Power supply in the area has been disrupted after the incident.

Nine killed in twin Quetta blasts

January 10, 2013 - Updated 2058 PKT
From Web Edition



QUETTA: Nine people including a private news channel cameraman were killed as two back-to-back bomb blasts hit the city Thursday evening, Geo News reported.

Sources told Geo News the first blast was reported from Rehmattullah Chowk on Alamdar Road, whereas the second one which struck Airport road area nearby came minutes after the first one.

"The second bomb went off by the time media, rescue, and law enforcement officials reached the spot" sources said.

Geo News team, which arrived at the site to cover the first blast however narrowly escaped the second one, but the satellite van they were in was damaged partially. The staff received minor injuries.

Police officers, mediamen, and rescue workers are also among the 15 injured.

It is pertinent to mention that at least twelve people including two children and a FC personal were killed while 40 others sustained injuries when a powerful bomb ripped through Bacha Khan Chowk earlier in the day.

Four explosions in Quetta, 10 people injured


DAWN.COM |

Breaking News.

QUETTA: Four explosions have been heard in the provincial capital, at least 10 people have been injured, DawnNews reported.

Two explosions took place at Alamdar road and at Prince road, according to reports. Two more explosions took place near Airport road.

Seven people were injured in the explosions at Alammdar and Prince road, while three people were reported injured in the two explosions at Airport road.