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 invites Bangladesh’s new prime minister for official visit in post-election outreach
- Planning minister Ahsan Iqbal attends swearing-in in Dhaka, proposes reviving regional cooperation
- Islamabad offers scholarships, connectivity and academic exchanges to expand bilateral ties with Dhaka
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has formally invited Bangladesh’s newly elected prime minister, Tarique Rahman, to visit Islamabad, its information ministry said on Wednesday after senior minister Ahsan Iqbal met the new premier in Dhaka following the oath-taking ceremony.
The outreach signals a cautious attempt by the two South Asian nations to improve relations decades after the 1971 war that led to Bangladesh’s independence from Pakistan, with diplomatic engagement historically limited and economic links underdeveloped compared with regional potential.
After former Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted during the 2024 political upheaval and fled to India, relations between Dhaka and Islamabad began to normalize after years of near-frozen contact. For over a decade under Hasina’s Awami League government, Bangladesh had aligned closely with India and kept Pakistan at diplomatic arm’s length.
The political shift in Dhaka — culminating in the 2026 election victory of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) led by Tarique Rahman — created space for engagement, including the relaunch of direct flights, high-level political and military exchanges, technical cooperation and business ties. The reset reflects broader regional dynamics: Bangladesh diversifying its diplomacy beyond India, and Pakistan seeking economic partnerships in South Asia amid a geo-economic foreign policy push.
“Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal conveyed a formal invitation from the Prime Minister of Pakistan to Prime Minister Tarique Rahman to undertake an official visit to Pakistan at a mutually convenient date,” a Pakistani information ministry statement said, quoting Iqbal who represented Islamabad at the oath taking.
“The two leaders discussed avenues to reinvigorate bilateral relations and enhance regional cooperation.”
The two sides discussed expanding cooperation in education, research and digital governance, including a proposed “Pakistan–Bangladesh Knowledge Corridor” to promote academic partnerships and student exchanges.
Islamabad said it had allocated 500 scholarships for Bangladeshi students, with 75 already traveling to Pakistan for higher education, and proposed closer coordination between national data and statistics institutions in both countries.
Officials also discussed improving direct flight connectivity to boost trade, tourism and business links, as well as cooperation in small and medium-sized industries and technology-enabled services.
The statement added that both sides supported stronger cultural engagement, including joint celebrations next year marking the 150th birth anniversary of philosopher-poet Muhammad Iqbal.
Both countries reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening ties and promoting regional stability and economic cooperation, the statement added.
