KARACHI: An attack at a fruit and vegetable market in the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta killed at least 20 people and wounded 48 others, officials said, in an assault apparently aimed at Shia Muslims from the ethnic Hazara minority.
Deputy police chief Abdul Razzaq Cheema said police were unsure if a time-bomb or a remote-controlled improvised explosive device had been used in the blast at the Hazar Ganji open market. Balochistan Home Minister Mir Zia Ullah Langau said the blast was carried out by a suicide bomber.
Hazaras have regularly come under attack in both Pakistan and Afghanistan from Taliban and Daesh militants and other sectarian outfits.
“Of those killed, eight are members of the Hazara community,” Cheema said, adding that a paramilitary Frontier Corps soldier had also perished in the blast.
Home minister Langua denied the attack had targeted a particular community.
At least 48 people were injured in the attack, according to Bolan Medical Complex and Quetta Trauma Center.
According to a 2018 report released by the National Commission for Human Rights, 509 ethnic Hazaras were killed and 627 wounded in a spate of attacks against the community between January 2012 and Dec 2017.
The deadliest attacks took place in 2013 when three separate bombings killed more than 200 members of the community in Balochistan province. After those attacks, security officials would escort Hazara buses out of the two protected enclaves where they mostly live and work, including to markets like the one where Friday’s attack occurred on the outskirts of Quetta, the capital of Balochistan.
On Friday, too, 55 Hazaras were escorted to the market by security officials in 11 vehicles, Cheema said, but the bomb had been hidden in a bag of potatoes and went off inside the market.
Prime Minister Imran Khan strongly condemned the Quetta blast and directed authorities to provide the best possible medical care to the injured, state-run Radio Pakistan said. Khan has also called for an inquiry into the incident.
“Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government has made important commitments to protect all religious groups in the country. Those commitments must translate now into policies to effectively protect the Hazaras of Quetta, ending more than a decade of bloodshed that has scarred their community,” Amnesty International’s Deputy South Asia Director, Omar Waraich, said.
“This horrific loss of life is a painful reminder of the threats that Quetta’s Hazara community continues to face. Targeted for their religion by sectarian armed groups, they have suffered many such tragedies over several years. Each time, there are promises that more will be done to protect them, and each time those promises have failed to materialize.
Twenty killed, 48 wounded in attack on market in Pakistan’s Quetta
Twenty killed, 48 wounded in attack on market in Pakistan’s Quetta
- Eight of the deceased are Shia Muslims from the Hazara community frequently attacked by Taliban and sectarian militant groups
- Police official says bomb was hidden in potato bag, home minister says it was a suicide blast
Pakistan moves to digitize payments for 10 million women under flagship poverty initiative
- BISP Official says accounts will be linked to phones to boost financial inclusion and curb payment deductions
- Over 1.9 million SIMs issued as the nationwide rollout continues across provinces ahead of the March deadline
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s flagship poverty alleviation initiative, the Benazir Income Support Program (BISP), plans to equip 10 million women with digital bank accounts linked to their phone numbers within four months in one of the largest such exercises in the world, one of its top officials said on Wednesday.
Launched in 2008, the initiative is named after the late former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and has a budget of Rs716 billion ($2.5 billion) during the current fiscal year. Through its Benazir Kafaalat — or financial assistance — program, BISP provides quarterly stipends of Rs13,500 ($48) to around 10 million women.
In an exclusive interview with Arab News, BISP Secretary Amir Ali Ahmed said the opening of digital bank accounts for the beneficiaries was part of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s initiative related to a cashless economy and digital transformation of the country.
“I’m glad to share that 10 million bank accounts, wallet accounts were created,” he said. “This is a follow-up of the same exercise whereby now 10 million SIMs are being distributed.
“It is significant to share that the entire beneficiary network that we have is female-centric,” he continued. “So these are 10 million female accounts that have been created.”
Ahmed said the process of issuing mobile phone SIM cards to BISP beneficiaries had started on November 17 and would be completed by March next year.
“Let me share that this is one of the largest such exercises to be conducted in the world which is female-centric, linked with financial inclusion and financial empowerment.”
The BISP official added that out of the more than 10 million beneficiaries, only five to 10 percent had bank accounts, but nearly 90 to 95 percent were excluded from the system.
He said they were being linked to the banking system with cellphone SIMs that are being distributed with the help of the IT ministry, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, National Database and Registration Authority and telecom companies across the country.
“We feel that this initiative of the government of Pakistan will not only result in financial empowerment of our beneficiaries, it will also result in financial inclusion of a segment which was not part of the banking sector in Pakistan,” he said, adding that the move will also lead to transparency.
In the past, there have been complaints of women not getting their full payment from bank officials in the absence of their own accounts, but Ahmed said this was going to change.
“They will be free from any exploitation at the agent networks, the queues that one would witness, the complaints of corruption or deductions that would emerge,” he continued.
According to official data, more than 1.9 million SIMs have so far been issued for BISP beneficiaries across the country.
The province of Punjab leads the rollout with 810,597 SIMs, followed by Sindh with 523,629 and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with 371,427 SIMs.
In other regions, Azad Jammu and Kashmir has received 59,617, Balochistan 82,826, Gilgit-Baltistan 45,184, and Islamabad 4,508 SIMs.
