Multiple Bombings Kill 47 Across Pakistan

Largest Attacks Target Northern Cities of Quetta, Parachinar

Jason Ditz 

Posted onJune 23, 2017CategoriesNewsTagsPakistan

A flurry of major bombing attacks hit northern Pakistan today, killing at least 47 people and wounding over 150 others. There was also a shooting attack in southern Pakistan later in the day that killed four more policy.

The earliest suicide bombing took place in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan Province, where police tried to search a car at a checkpoint and the driver detonated a cache of explosives. 13 were killed, including at least seven police, in that attack.

Further to the east, in the city of Parachinar along the Afghan border, a pair of bombings targeted a crowded marketplace. The blasts were timed just three minutes apart, apparently aiming to draw a crowd with the first blast and killing even more people. 34 were killed, and over 120 wounded in that attack.

ISIS has claimed credit for the Quetta attack, saying they intend to continue launching such attacks until their form of sharia law is imposed across Pakistan. So far, no one has claimed credit for the bombings in Parachinar, though bombings against marketplaces during Ramadan are not uncommon, and Pakistan has so many militant factions there are no shortage of suspects

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