September 2010 Quetta bombing

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September 2010 Quetta bombing
Location Quetta, Balochistan, Pakistan
Coordinates 30°22′N67°01′E / 30.36°N 67.02°E / 30.36; 67.02
Date3 September 2010
Target Hazara people, Shiites
Attack type
Suicide bombing, shootings, arson by angry survivors
Weapons Suicide belt
Deaths73+
Injured200 [1]
Perpetrators Lashkar-e-Jhangvi
Motive Anti-Shi'ism

The September 2010 Quetta bombing occurred on 3 September 2010 in Quetta, Pakistan. [2] At least 73 people were killed and 206 injured when a bomb exploded in a Quds Day procession which Shias were carrying out to express solidarity with Palestinians. [3]

Contents

Background

Pakistan, which has a mostly Sunni population, has seen sectarian attacks against minorities including Shias, who account for about 10-20% of Pakistan's population, and are the followers of the Prophet's progeny. [4] Two days prior to these attacks dozens of Shias were killed in a similar attack in Lahore. Sunni militant groups like Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan which operate in Pakistan have for years targeted minorities including Shias.

On the day prior to this attack Pakistan's interior minister Rehman Malik had asked the Shia community not to hold large gatherings due to security concerns. [5]

Attack

The procession was to mark the Quds Day event staged every year by the Shia community to oppose Israel's occupation of Jerusalem. [6] The rally drew an estimated 2,500 participants, mostly Shiias. The size of the blast caused a stampede. [4] The explosion occurred in the Meezan chowk area of the town. The bomb exploded around 3:05 pm local time. It was estimated that the suicide bomber used about 15 kilograms of explosives. [7]

Responsibility

Lashkar-e-Jhangvi claimed responsibility for the attack and said a 22-year-old suicide bomber, Rashid Moaawia, carried out the attack. [7]

Aftermath

Following the blast, widespread protests erupted in the city with gunfire being heard across the city. Several shops were burnt by the protesters. [7] People were seen lying on the roads to avoid gunfire, while others set fire to vehicles and buildings to vent their anger. [6]

After the blast, police cordoned off the area and fired in the air to hold back people trying to search for their relatives. [4] Shops and schools remained closed the following day. Security was also stepped up at mosques across Pakistan. Thousands attended a funeral mass in Quetta. [8]

Reactions

Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani condemned the attack and ordered an investigation. Interior Minister Rehman Malik told the press that militants want to encourage sectarianism in an effort to destabilise the government following a series of military offensives against them. He also claimed that Punjabi, such as Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, and al-Qaida and the Tehrik-e-Taliban are one and the same. [9] Shiite Conference, Balochistan announced a 40-day mourning period in line with Shia custom. [4]

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's spokesman said "These attacks, which deliberately targeted Shiite Muslims and killed or injured scores of civilians, are unacceptable." [10]

Condemning the attacks the White House stated "To target innocent civilians during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan at an already difficult time as the country is working hard to recover from terrible flooding caused by monsoons makes these acts even more reprehensible." [11]

See also

Related Research Articles

Sectarian violence in Pakistan refers to violence directed against people and places in Pakistan motivated by antagonism toward the target's religious sect. As many as 4,000 Shia are estimated to have been killed in sectarian attacks in Pakistan between 1987 and 2007, and thousands more Shia have been killed by Salafi extremists from 2008 to 2014, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW). Sunni Sufis and Barelvis have also suffered from some sectarian violence, with attacks on religious shrines killing hundreds of worshippers, and some Deobandi leaders assassinated. Pakistan minority religious groups, including Hindus, Ahmadis, and Christians, have "faced unprecedented insecurity and persecution" in at least two recent years, according to Human Rights Watch. One significant aspect of the attacks in Pakistan is that militants often target their victims places of worship during prayers or religious services in order to maximize fatalities and to "emphasize the religious dimensions of their attack".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lashkar-e-Jhangvi</span> Jihadist militant organisation

The Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, is a Deobandi supremacist, terrorist and militant organisation based in Afghanistan. The organisation operates in Pakistan and Afghanistan and is an offshoot of anti-Shia party Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP). The LeJ was founded by former SSP activists Riaz Basra, Malik Ishaq, Akram Lahori, and Ghulam Rasool Shah.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">September 2010 Lahore bombings</span> Series of bombings in Lahore, Pakistan

The September 2010 Lahore bombings were a series of three suicide bombings which occurred on 1 September 2010, in Lahore, Pakistan. Thirty-eight were killed and more than 250 were injured when a Shia procession was targeted.

This is a list of terrorist attacks in Pakistan in the calendar year 2011.

These are the list of Terrorist attacks in Pakistan in 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2011 Mastung bus shooting</span>

The 2011 Mastung bus shooting was an armed attack on 20 September 2011 on a bus traveling in Mastung District near the city of Quetta in the Pakistani province of Balochistan. The attack left at least 26 people dead. The victims were Shi'a Muslim pilgrims of the Hazara community, suggesting the attack to have been a targeted killing of sectarian nature. The attack occurred in Luck Pass area near Mastung. The bus was leaving Quetta for Taftan, Balochistan. In addition, 2 others were killed in a follow-up attack on a car on its way to rescue the survivors of the bus attack, which raised the death toll to 28 on that day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2011 Afghanistan Ashura bombings</span> Suicide bombing in Kabul and Mazar-i-Sharif

The 2011 Afghanistan Ashura bombings were a pair of bombings in the Afghan capital of Kabul and Mazar-e-Sharif. The Kabul suicide bombing took place at around noon local time, on the day when Muslims commemorate Ashura, an annual holy day throughout the Muslim world particularly by the Shi'a Muslims.

This is a list of terrorist incidents in Pakistan in 2012. Pakistan has faced numerous attacks by insurgents as a result of the ongoing War in North-West Pakistan by the Pakistani military against militant groups, part of the War on Terror. At the same time, there have also been numerous drone attacks in Pakistan carried out by the United States which exclusively target members of militant groups along the Afghan border regions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2011 Hazara Town shooting</span>

2011 Hazara Town shooting refers to a massacre of Hazara people on 6 May 2011 in Hazara Town, Quetta, Pakistan which left 8 dead and at least 15 wounded. The shooting took place early in the morning around 0630 hrs Pakistan Standard Time in a park when people were doing morning-exercises, playing cricket and football. Three rockets were fired which was followed by heavy gunfire. Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) claimed responsibility for the attack.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Persecution of Hazaras in Quetta</span> Persecution in Pakistan since the 1990s

The persecution of Hazaras in Quetta, is a series of ethnic or religious motivated attacks on Hazaras in Quetta, Pakistan.

This is a list of terrorist incidents in Pakistan in 2013. Some of the incidents are sectarian in nature and the TTP is responsible for a majority of them.

On 10 January 2013, several bombings took place in the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta, the capital of Balochistan, killing a total of 130 people and injuring at least 270. The Quetta bombings led to protests by the city's Shia Muslim Hazara community; Prime Minister of Pakistan Raja Pervez Ashraf responded by dismissing the Chief Minister of Balochistan, Aslam Raisani, and replacing him with Zulfikar Ali Magsi. On the same day, a bomb exploded in Swat District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, killing 22 people and injuring 60 others.

On 16 February 2013, at least 91 people were killed and 190 injured after a bomb hidden in a water tank exploded at a market in Hazara Town on the outskirts of Quetta, the capital city of Balochistan, Pakistan. Most of the victims were members of the predominantly Shia Twelver ethnic Hazara community, and authorities expected the death toll to rise due to the large number of serious injuries. The Lashkar-e-Jhangvi group claimed responsibility for the blast, the second major attack against the Shia Hazaras in a month.

On 15 June 2013, a series of bombings and a subsequent siege resulted in the deaths of 26 people and injuries to dozens more. On the same day, separatist militants attacked and demolished the historic Quaid-e-Azam Residency in Ziarat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malik Ishaq</span> Pakistani militant leader (1959–2015)

Malik Ishaq was a Pakistani militant globally designated terrorist, and leader and co-founder of the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) terrorist organization.

The Qatif and Dammam mosque bombings occurred on 22 and 29 May 2015. On Friday May 22, a suicide bomber attacked the Shia "Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib Mosque" situated in Qudeih village of Qatif city in Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the blast, which killed at least 21 people. The event is the second deadly attack against Shia in six months.

Terrorist incidents in Pakistan in 2017 include, in chronological order:

Terrorist incidents in Pakistan in 2018 include:

The 2019 Quetta bombing was a suicide bomb attack on an open marketplace in Quetta, Pakistan on 12 April, killing 21 people. The bombing took place near an area where many minority Shiite Muslims live. At least ten Hazara, including nine Shiites, were among the dead. Two paramilitary soldiers were also killed in the bombing. PM Imran Khan expressed condolences for the lives lost, directed the authorities to ensure the best medical treatment for the injured, and ordered an increase in security for Shiites and Hazara people. Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and ISIL later accepted responsibility for the attack, stating that "their target were Hazara people."

The 2010 Quetta Civil Hospital bombing occurred on 16 April 2010 in Quetta, Pakistan, killing at least 12 people and injuring 47 people. The dead included Shia Hazara PPP Member of National Assembly Syed Nasir Ali Shah and his son, at least one of guards, and two Hazara police officers. The incident took place when they had arrived to condole the death of a Shia bank manager who was killed by unidentified gunmen earlier.

References

  1. ↑ "Deadly bombing at Pakistan rally". Al Jazeera. 4 September 2010. Retrieved 4 September 2010.
  2. ↑ "Quetta rally suicide bomb kills dozens". BBC. 3 September 2010. Retrieved 3 September 2010.
  3. ↑ "Death toll from Pakistan suicide bombing rises to 73 - CNN.com". www.cnn.com. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "73 killed in fresh suicide bomb attack in Pakistan". Xinhua News Agency. 4 September 2010. Retrieved 3 September 2010.
  5. ↑ Rodriguez, Alex (4 September 2010). "Pakistan suicide bombing kills 58". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 4 May 2022.
  6. 1 2 "Suicide bomber kills 53 at Shia rally in Quetta". DAWN.COM. 3 September 2010. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
  7. 1 2 3 "L-e-J group claims responsibility for suicide blast in Pakistan's Quetta". Xinhua News Agency. 3 September 2010. Archived from the original on 7 September 2010. Retrieved 3 September 2010.
  8. ↑ "Pakistan mourns blast victims". Al Jazeerah English. 4 September 2010. Retrieved 4 September 2010.
  9. ↑ "Pakistani Flooding Impacts Fight Against Militants". Voice of America. 4 September 2010. Retrieved 4 September 2010.
  10. ↑ "UN chief deplores deadly attacks against Pakistan's Shiite Muslims". UN News Centre. 3 September 2010. Retrieved 4 September 2010.
  11. ↑ "US condemns 'reprehensible' Pakistan bombings". Agence France-Presse. 3 September 2010. Archived from the original on 6 September 2010. Retrieved 3 September 2010.
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