Pakistani police officials cordon off the site after a bomb blast at a fruit market in Quetta on April 12, 2019. (Photo by AFP)
At least 16 people were killed and 30 others were injured in a bomb explosion in Pakistan’s Baluchistan province on April 12.
The explosion was caused by a bomb hidden among bags of potatoes at Hazar Ganji, a fruit and vegetable market on the outskirts of the provincial capital, Quetta.
“So far, I have confirmation of 16 martyrs – eight belong to the Hazara community, seven others who worked here one is from the Frontier Constabulary,” Abdul Razzaq Cheema, Deputy Inspector General of Quetta, told media.
According to reprots, a notable part of the casualties was ethnic Hazars – an ethnic minority, members of which are mostly Shia Muslims. This fact allows to suggest that the attack was likely conducted by some radical Sunni armed group, many of which operates along the Pakistani borders with Afghanistan and India.
