Suicide bomber in Quetta kills three after targeting bus

SYED ALI SHAH

The area has been frequently been targeted in sectarian, suicide and other militant attacks in the past. — File Photo
Published 2014-01-01 18:25:51

QUETTA: At least three people were killed and thirty injured in a suicide attack in Quetta, the capital of militancy-hit Balochistan province on Wednesday.

Police said a suicide bomber rammed his explosive-laden vehicle into the bus carrying Shia pilgrims in Akhtarabad area of Quetta.

The pilgrims were coming from neighboring Iran to Quetta when they were targeted. The injured include women, children and five police personnel.

Syed Ahmed Mobeen, the Deputy Inspector General Police told Dawn.com that the suicide bomber rammed his explosive-laden vehicle into the passenger bus.

"We have found the legs of suicide bomber from the spot," he added.

The injured were immediately rushed to nearby Bolan Medical Complex Hospital for medical treatment.

Security in and around BMC hospital was tightened to avoid occurrence of another untoward incident.

Emergency was imposed in the hospital and doctors and paramedics were called to treat the injured. The strength of the blast severely damaged the police vehicle as well.

Mobeen said the pilgrims bus caught fire after the blast. Fire fighters were rushed from Quetta city to put off the roaring flames of the fire.

Frontier Corps and Police were quick to the site of the attack. The road was blocked as an investigation into the incident was now underway.

Militants have been targeting the pilgrims coming from Iran for last more than six years in Quetta and other parts of Balochistan. Security was placed on high alert in and around Quetta on the eve of new year.

However, despite strict security the suicide bomber managed to target the pilgrims' bus.

The attack in Quetta has drawn strong condemnation from numerous political figures.

Prme Minister Nawaz Sharif and President Mamnoon Hussain have condemned the terrorist attack in the strongest terms.

Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan, Awami National Party chief Asfandyar Wali and Muttahida Qaumi Movement leader Altaf Hussain have also condemned the attack.

The Majlis-e-Wahdatul Muslimeen (MWM) have also condemned the attack and lashed out at the government for being unable to stop terrorist attacks in the country.

The MWM have also announced three days of mourning.

DAWN 

Quetta: Two dead, 31 injured in pilgrim bus bombing

January 01, 2014 -

QUETTA: At least two people were killed and scores more, including women and children, were injured in a passenger bus bombing here on Wednesday evening, Geo News reported.

"So far, there have been two deaths, while the count of the injured has risen to 31", Information minister of Balochistan, Abdul Raheem, confirmed.

As per initial reports the target of this sectarian terrorist act was a bus full of pilgrims coming from Iran. The blast struck the bus at Akhtarabad bypass on Qamberani Road in the provincial capital of Balochistan.

CCPO Quetta, Abdul Razzaq Cheema, said the bus had just entered Quetta after crossing Pakistan-Iran border carrying about 30 to 35 pilgrims who were coming back home after visiting holy places in Iran.

According to sources gunshots were also fired after the bomb went off.

The bus caught fire after the explosion. The TV footage aired by Geo News showed the ablaze bus burning brightly in the dark while sporadic firing was still in progress.

The fire brigade was still struggling to extinguish the fire, the sources added.

The Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) declared it a suicide attack.

"About 80-100 kilograms of explosive was used in the bomb. It is surmised that a suicide-car-bomber rammed into the fateful bus and blew it up", a BDS official said.

The emergency responders are busy moving victims to the hospitals while the law enforcement agencies trying to clear the area.

Heavy contingents of FC and police officials reached and cordoned off the blast site.

Some of the injured were rushed to Bolan Medical Complex (BMC), while others have been moved to Combined Military Hospital (CMH). The sources, however, added that no women or children were among the injured ambulanced to the hospitals so far.

A police vehicle, which was escorting the pilgrims bus was also damaged in the blast. "Some policemen also sustained injuries in the attack", the Station House House Officer (SHO) of the respective area told Geo News.

Authorities fear more deaths keeping in view the intensity of the blast.

Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and President Mamnoon Hussain have strongly condemned terrorist attack.

In his condolence message the PM said the perpetrators of such heinous crimes were doing no service to Islam and the country.

"My sympathies are with the families of the victims. I pray for the departed souls and for early recovery of those injured in the tragic incident".

He reiterated the government s resolve to eliminate terrorism from the country to establish durable peace.

Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader Altaf Hussain, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan, Awami National Party chief Asfandyar Wali also decried the attack in the strongest of words.

Meanwhile, Majlis-e-Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM), in its condemnatory reaction to the terrorist attack, picked apart the government for failing to provide protection to the citizens of Pakistan.

An MWM spokesperson also announced observance of three days of mourning across Pakistan.

The News 

Interview: In Conversation with Khadim Ali

Khadim Ali is a contemporary Pakistani artist who lives and works in Sydney, Quetta and Kabul. His work is featured in No Country: Contemporary Art for South and Southeast Asiathe inaugural Guggenheim UBS MAP Global Art Initiative touring exhibition, which is currently being presented at the Asia Society Hong Kong until 16 February 2013.

The title of Khadim Ali’s Rustam Series (2011–12) references the hero of the Persian Shahnameh (Book of Kings) in Ferdowsi’s 11-century epic poem. Ali’s paintings recall only his name, alluding instead to the displacement and persecution of the Hazara minority in Afghanistan and Pakistan, a community to which Ali traces his heritage.

Q: Your family left Afghanistan at a turbulent period in the country’s history. How does this affect your feelings towards the country and your place of birth?

A: My family left Afghanistan in the 1890s when the first grand massacres of Hazara started by King Amir Abdul Rahman and he massacred over 62% of the entire population of Hazaras and captured their land and took their children and ladies as slaves and sold Hazaras to India – almost 10 000 Hazaras were sold to India and all the taxes were given to the government. So it was then my grandparents left Afghanistan and moved to India, before the partition of Pakistan in India, so they chose to live at the border of Pakistan and Afghanistan with the hope that someday Afghanistan will be a free land and they are going to claim their land back, but it never happened.

Q: Hong Kong is a very multi-cultural city, home to over 7 million people of many nationalities. What are your impressions of the city?

A: I felt like everything is pointing skywards and it’s like a compressed version of New York and I was thinking I am going to have extreme problems here because I don’t speak Mandarin or Cantonese, but then almost every second person is a really good English speaking person.

Q: What do you hope audiences will take away from your work?

A: When audiences ask me what is the meaning of that particular artwork, I always think that a work of art is like a poem – when you read a poem, a poem is so versatile, you just own it and personalize it. It goes into your very personal moments and stays in you, if you like, and you translate it according to your own feeling. I think a work of art – of visual art – should be like that and having that versatility of a poem or versatility of music.

Q: Your work is informed and inspired by storytelling and ancient texts – could you elaborate on that?

A: I don’t want people to come in and look at the work the way I am looking at the work. They are free to have whatever meaning they want to – my work is part of my life and part of my career with the storytelling culture but my work is not a story. There is no story behind the work. I think there shouldn’t be any story behind any visual artwork – it should be as free as music, it should have the versatility of music.

Q: Which artists inspire you?

A: I always ask myself which artists I am inspired by but I only look at my work and can say which artists I am inspired by. I am inspired by the 15 century old master Muhammad Siyah Qalam who was also painting demons and I am really inspired by his works.

Asia Society

Balochistan Has Become "Human Rights Free Zone" Says, Director of Pakistan's Human Rights Watch

No Pomegranate Was Imported From Iran

Quetta: Customs Collectorate Office reported to provincial government that no pomegranate were imported from Iran, yet the religious fanatics "discovered" pages of holy Koran from crates of pomegranate that "were imported from Iran", and used it to as a pretext to attack markets in the city, in which one person died and several others injured.

"Discovering pages of holy Koran from Pomegranate crates, that were imported from Iran"

Attacking the Markets 

First Afghan woman governor wins Magsaysay award

Habiba Sarabi was honoured for helping build a functioning local government and pushing for education and women's rights in Afghanistan's Bamyan province despite discrimination and poverty.

Press Trust of India : Manila, Wed Jul 24 2013, 13:30 hrs

Afghanistan's first and only female governor and a humanitarian worker from the Kachin minority in Myanmar are among this year's recipients of a Philippine leadership prize.

Habiba Sarabi was honoured for helping build a functioning local government and pushing for education and women's rights in Afghanistan's Bamyan province despite discrimination and poverty.

Lahpai Seng Raw helps rehabilitate damaged communities amid armed conflict.The Ramon Magsaysay Awards announced today honour three individuals and two organisations for changing their societies for the better.

They are named after a popular Philippine president who died in a plane crash in 1957.

The Indian Express