The Hazara Shia Muslims in Pakistan’s restive Quetta city have refused to bury bodies of Saturday’s bombing victims till the city is handed over to Pakistan army.
Islamabad, Feb 18/Nationalturk – The Hazara Shia Muslims in Pakistan’s restive Quetta city have refused to bury bodies of Saturday’s bombing victims till the city is handed over to Pakistan army and terrorists involved in the bombing are arrested or killed.
A powerful explosive device ripped though a busy market in a Shia Hazara neighbourhood of Quetta, killing 84 people and atleast 170 injured on Saturday (February 16). Local media reports said Sunni militant group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), which has been banned by the Pakistan government, claimed responsibility for the bombing.
The families of the bombing victims have refused to bury the dead. Although mass graves were dug in targeted town of Hazara, but the coffins are lying at many places and their family members and relatives are saying that won’t bury the dead till the control of restive city is handed over to Pakistan army.
“We stand firm for on demands of handing over Quetta city to army. The Pakistan army should launched an operation against terrorists and their supporters,” said Syed Mohammad Hadi, spokesman for an alliance of Shia groups.
He said they will not bury the bodies till their demands are met.
The Hazra groups have given government 48 hour ultimatum to nab the perpetrators of the deadly blasts and hand over city to Pakistan.
The security of Quetta and restive Balochistan district is being looked after by paramilitary Frontier Corps. The Shias have said the paramilitary force have failed to provide security to them and launch a concerted operation against terrorists.
Earlier, yesterday hundreds of Hazara Shias staged protest in Quetta and demanded that the city be handed over to army, which should launch an operation against the terrorists to prevent such kind of attacks in the future.
The protesters vowed to continue their protest demonstrations and sit-in unless their demands were met.
This is the second major deadly bombing targeting the Shia Muslims in restive Quetta city this year. Earlier, On January 10, at least 106 people were killed and over 150 injured when a suicide bombing followed by a car bomb explosions targeted the Hazara community in the city.
The Hazara Shias have been targeted several times in past two years in Quetta and in these attacks hundreds of Shia Muslims have lost their lives.
The Hazara Shias had migrated from Afghanistan to Pakistan over a century ago.
UN chief condemns bombing
“UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has strongly condemned the powerful bomb blast in Quetta,” his spokesman Martin Nesirky said in a statement in New York.
He said Ban called for swift and determined action against those claiming responsibility and perpetrating such actions.
“The UN chief reiterated the strong support of the United Nations for efforts by the Government and people of Pakistan to protect religious and ethnic minorities and to combat the scourge of terrorism,” added the spokesman.
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Faiz Ahmad / NationalTurk Pakistan News
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