KARACHI: The Middle-Eastern Daesh militant organization said it was behind a suicide bombing that killed at least 20 people in an openair market in southwestern Pakistan on Friday, the group’s Amaq news agency said on Saturday.
The group provided no further detail or evidence for its claim.
On Friday, a bomb ripped through an outdoor market in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province, in an attack police said had aimed to target the ethnic Hazara Shia minority.
Militants linked to the Taliban, Al-Qaeda and Daesh have been operating in the province, which borders Iran as well as Afghanistan. It also has an indigenous ethnic Baloch insurgency fighting the central government.
Last year, Daesh claimed responsibility for an attack on an election rally in Balochistan in which at least 128 people were killed. In 2017, Daesh said it had killed two Chinese teachers it had previously kidnapped in Balochistan province.
Beijing has pledged $62 billion for its “Belt and Road” plan in Pakistan and many of the flagship projects, including a commercial port, are housed in Balouchistan.
Police initially said Friday’s blast was caused by a bomb placed in a potato sack but Balochistan Home Minister Mir Zia Ullah Langau clarified that it was carried out by a suicide bomber.
On Saturday, Deputy police Chief Abdul Razzaq Cheema said police had found the body parts of the attacker and sent them for forensic examination.
“An investigation team comprising officials of the counter terrorism department has been setup,” he told Arab News, declining further comment until the investigation was completed.
On Friday, Cheema said of those killed in the attack, eight were members of the Hazara community, which regularly comes under attack in both Pakistan and Afghanistan from Taliban and Daesh militants and other sectarian outfits.
At least 48 people were also injured in the attack, according to Bolan Medical Complex and Quetta Trauma Center.
On Friday evening, an IED [improvised explosive device] blast aimed at paramilitary troops left two dead and seven wounded in Chaman, city police chief Attaullah Shah said.
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, it became standard practice for security officials to 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 Friday, too, 55 Hazaras were escorted to the market by security officials in 11 vehicles, Cheema said. The blast took place inside the market.
Prime Minister Imran Khan said in a post on Twitter that he called an “immediate inquiry” into the attack.
“Prayers go to the families of the victims & for early recovery of the injured,” he said.
“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.”
Daesh says behind Pakistan market suicide bombing that killed 20
Daesh says behind Pakistan market suicide bombing that killed 20
- Eight of the deceased are Shia Muslims from the Hazara community
- Second blast targeting paramilitary troops in Chaman kills two
Pakistan says responding to Afghan ‘offensive operations’ after border fire as tensions escalate
- Afghan Taliban spokesperson says “large-scale offensive operations” launched against Pakistani military bases
- Pakistan says Afghan forces opened “unprovoked” fire across multiple sectors along shared border
ISLAMABAD: Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities said on Thursday they had launched “large-scale offensive operations” against Pakistani military bases and installations, prompting Pakistan to say its forces were responding to what it described as unprovoked fire along the shared border.
The escalation follows Islamabad’s weekend airstrikes targeting what it said were Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Daesh militant camps inside Afghanistan in response to a wave of recent bombings and attacks in Pakistan. Islamabad said the strikes killed over 100 militants, while Kabul said dozens of civilians were killed and condemned the attacks as a violation of its sovereignty.
In a post on social media platform X, Afghan government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said Afghanistan had launched “large-scale offensive operations” in response to repeated violations by the Pakistani military.
Pakistan’s Ministry of Information said Afghan forces had initiated hostilities along multiple points of the frontier.
“Afghan Taliban regime unprovoked action along the Pakistan–Afghanistan border given an immediate, and effective response,” the ministry said in a statement.
The statement said Pakistani forces were targeting Taliban positions in the Chitral, Khyber, Mohmand, Kurram and Bajaur sectors, claiming heavy Afghan casualties and the destruction of multiple posts and equipment. It added that Pakistan would take all necessary measures to safeguard its territorial integrity and the security of its citizens.
Separately, security officials said Pakistani forces had carried out counterattacks in several border sectors.
“Pakistan’s security forces are giving a befitting reply to the unprovoked Afghan aggression with full force,” a security official said, declining to be named.
“The Pakistani security forces’ counter-attack destroyed Taliban’s hideouts and the Khawarij fled,” they added, referring to TTP militants.
The claims from both sides could not be independently verified.
Cross-border violence has intensified in recent weeks, with Pakistan blaming a surge in suicide bombings and militant attacks on militants it says are based in Afghanistan. Kabul denies providing safe havens to anti-Pakistan militant groups.
The clashes mark the third major escalation between the neighbors in less than a year. Similar Pakistani strikes last year triggered weeklong clashes before Qatar, Türkiye and other regional actors mediated a ceasefire in October.
The 2,600-kilometer (1,600-mile) frontier, a key trade and transit corridor linking Pakistan to landlocked Afghanistan and onward to Central Asia, has faced repeated closures amid tensions, disrupting commerce and humanitarian movement. Trade between the two nations has remained closed since October 2025.
