The celebrations that bring together the majority of the Pakistani population every year to commemorate the birth of Muhammad ended this Friday in a bloodbath. At least 57 people were killed and dozens injured in a double suicide attack that destroyed two mosques in the provinces of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, both bordering Afghanistan. The attack, which until last night had not been claimed by any terrorist group, occurred in a coordinated manner, almost 900 kilometers away, when thousands of believers were preparing, in the middle of Friday prayer, to celebrate the prophet’s birthday. A custom described as heresy by some hardline Islamic sects.
The first explosion, recorded in the town of Mastung, located in the troubled southwestern region of Balochistan, killed at least 52 people and injured another 58, many of them seriously, according to the district health official, Abdul Rasheed. “The attacker blew himself up next to a police vehicle near the Madina mosque, where people were gathering for a procession,” added Munir Ahmed, a senior police official.
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The second attack, carried out by two suicide bombers, killed five people at the mosque in the city of Hangu, in the northern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The attack involved two explosions: one at the entrance of the property and another inside. “Fortunately, there was a detonation at the door, so the worshipers were able to leave and, as a result, the victims are few,” Fazal Akbar, deputy commissioner of the district, told local media. The second explosion, on the contrary, caused the roof to collapse and left between 30 and 40 people trapped under the rubble, the Geo News station reported.
Killings on the rise
In recent years, both provinces have seen an uptick in attacks by Islamist militants seeking to establish a government governed by strict Islamic law. The killings have skyrocketed especially since 2022, when a ceasefire between the Executive and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) was broken, a body created in 2007 to bring together hardline Sunni Islamist groups. The TTP, however, denied this Friday that it was involved in the explosions, which also occurred at the start of the campaign for the elections scheduled for the end of January.
The last major attack that occurred in Pakistan occurred precisely on July 30 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, when more than 40 people died and 200 were injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up at a rally of the country’s main Islamist party, the JUI-F. On that occasion, the Islamic State jihadist group claimed responsibility.
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