At least 24 people have been killed and many injured in bombings in the north and south of Pakistan, officials say.
The first explosion in the city of Quetta killed at least 13 people. It happened when a suicide bomber in a car was stopped by police at a checkpoint.Two different militant groups claim they carried out that blast.In the second incident, at least 11 people were killed in two almost simultaneous explosions at a market in the north-western town of Parachinar. Several people are reported to have been injured.
The first blast went off near a bus terminal at the market, Dawn reported, while the second happened as rescuers rushed to help those injured in the first explosion.The bombs in Parachinar, in Kurram district, are the third since January and took place as the market was crowded with people buying food to break their Ramadan fast.Some reports say a Shia procession was targeted.
The Kurram region has a history of sectarian violence between Shia and Sunni Muslims.Most people in Parachinar are from Pakistan's Shia minority Sunni hardliners, currently operating through different factions including the Taliban and so-called Islamic State (IS) consider Shias to be heretics and worthy of death.These groups have sanctuaries in Afghan and Pakistani areas surrounding Kurram, and have launched frequent attacks against civilians in Parachinar.
Long-running insurgency
Police in Quetta said that Friday's blast had reverberated across the city, breaking windows of buildings in the area.here has so far been no explanation as to why two militant groups - IS and an offshoot of the Taliban called the Jamaat-ul-Ahrar - have both said they carried out the attack.
Eyewitnesses said many of those killed were police.
Provincial government spokesman Anwar ul Haq Kakar told the Reuters news agency that the bomb was detonated close to the office of the inspector general (IG) of police."It's possible the IG office was the target, or the assailants were trying to enter the [army] cantonment which is close by," he said.
Bomb disposal officials say the car was carrying up to 95kg (210lb) of explosives.
TV pictures at the scene of the blast showed debris scattered across a wide area as security officials secured the site.Quetta is about 100 km (60 miles) east of the border with Afghanistan.The province of Balochistan and its provincial capital Quetta are among the most dangerous parts of Pakistan, continually targeted by militants and also by Baloch nationalist separatists waging a long-running insurgency.
bbc.com
bbc.com
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