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Agence France-Presse

A suicide bomber blew himself up inside the main prayer hall of a mosque in southwestern Pakistan on Friday, killing at least 15 people and wounding many others, police said.
A senior police officer and a cleric leading the prayers were among those killed by the explosion, local official Alam Baloch said. The mosque is located in Quetta, the capital of Pakistan’s volatile province of Balochistan.
The bomb exploded as dozens of people were leaving after evening prayers, Baloch added.
The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, according to the SITE intelligence group.

Balochistan’s Home Minister Zia Lango said a suicide bomber detonated explosives attached to his body among the worshippers.
The mosque is part of an Islamic seminary run by the Afghan Taliban, Pakistani officials said.
Female suicide bomber strikes hospital in Pakistan, killing 9
Fida Mohammad, who was attending evening prayers, said about 60 people were present at the time of the attack on the mosque, located in a densely populated area.
The explosion ripped through the front row of worshippers seconds after the prayer began, he said.

Debris and shattered glass littered the scene.
“It was a powerful blast, people were screaming and running here and there – many people were injured because of the stampede,” Mohammad said.
Mohammad Waseem, a doctor at Quetta’s Sandeman hospital, confirmed that 15 victims had died.
The police chief of Balochistan province, Mohsin Hassan Butt, also confirmed the death toll. “Nineteen people are still taking medical treatment, the condition of three to four is critical,” he said.
A police officer was among the dead, Butt added.

A Pakistani military spokesman said on Twitter that paramilitary personnel were at the mosque and had cordoned off the area.
“A joint search operation with police is in progress, injured being evacuated to hospitals,” said the spokesman, Asif Ghafoor.
The attack came two days after a motorcycle bomb targeting a paramilitary force vehicle killed two people and wounded 14 others at a busy market in Quetta.
Balochistan is Pakistan’s largest and poorest province, bordering Afghanistan and Iran.
Islamists tell Pakistan’s Khan: ‘we can arrest you if you don’t quit’
It has been under attack by Islamist militants, sectarian extremists and nationalist rebels seeking liberation of land from Pakistan.
Militants still retain the ability to carry out attacks, including on major urban centres and tightly-guarded targets, and analysts have long warned that Pakistan has not yet tackled the causes of extremism.
About 70,000 people have lost their lives to terrorism attacks since the country joined the global war against groups like al-Qaeda and the Taliban in neighbouring Afghanistan.
Balochistan is key to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), part of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative.
CPEC seeks to connect China’s restive western Xinjiang region with the Pakistani port of Gwadar, giving the world’s second-largest economy access to the Arabian Sea.

I have demanded an immediate report on the condemnable cowardly terrorist attack in Quetta targeting a mosque & people at prayers. Have asked prov govt to ensure all medical facilities are provided to the injured. Martyred DSP Haji Amanullah was a brave & exemplary officer.
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) January 11, 2020

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan took to Twitter to condemn the attack and said he has “demanded” an immediate report.
“Those who targeted innocents in a mosque can never be true Muslim,” General Qamar Javed Bajwa, Pakistan’s army chief, said in a tweet.


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Pakistan

Pakistan suicide blast at Taliban-run mosque kills at least 15, in attack claimed by Isis

A wounded victim is brought for treatment after a bomb blast in Quetta on January 10, 2020. Photo: EPA-EFE

(200110) -- QUETTA (PAKISTAN), Jan. 10, 2020 (Xinhua) -- Photo taken on Jan. 10, 2020 shows the damage inside a mosque following a blast in Quetta, Balochistan province, Pakistan. A blast hit a mosque in Quetta on Friday night, killing at least 14 people and injuring 20 others, a senior police officer said. (Str/Xinhua)

(200110) -- QUETTA (PAKISTAN), Jan. 10, 2020 (Xinhua) -- Security members examine the blast site in Quetta, Balochistan province, Pakistan, on Jan. 10, 2020. A blast hit a mosque in Quetta on Friday night, killing at least 14 people and injuring 20 others, a senior police officer said. (Photo by Asad/Xinhua)

Men comfort each other as they mourn the death of a relative who was killed in a bomb blast in a mosque, at a hospital morgue in Quetta, Pakistan January 10, 2020. REUTERS/Naseer Ahmed

Why US criticism of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor will fall on deaf ears

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan meets Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on October 9. Photo: Xinhua

With CPEC, Pakistan risks Chinese anger by courting Saudi Arabia

The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor port in Gwadar. Photo: Reuters

FILE PHOTO: A container is loaded on to the first Chinese container ship to depart after the inauguration of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor port in Gwadar, Pakistan November 13, 2016. REUTERS/Caren Firouz/File Photo

In this photo provided by the office of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, Pakistani politician Imran Khan, chief of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, delivers his address in Islamabad, Pakistan, Thursday, July 26, 2018. Khan declared victory Thursday for his party in the country's general elections, promising a "new" Pakistan following a vote that was marred by allegations of fraud and militant violence. (Tehreek-e-Insaf via AP)

Photo: Bloomberg

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Asia

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An attacker detonated explosives attached to his body among worshippers at a mosque at an Islamic seminary run by the Afghan Taliban
The attack took place in Pakistan’s volatile Balochistan province, which is key to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, part of the Belt and Road Initiative



The attack took place in Pakistan’s volatile Balochistan province, which is key to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, part of the Belt and Road Initiative.


Islamic State

Islamic militancy

Taliban