Terrorists kill 24 Shias on Pakistan-Iran border
The death toll in a twin suicide attack the Pakistani town of Taftan, which is near the border with Iran, reached 24 on Monday, including four terrorists, a senior administration official said.
Akbar Hussain Durrani, the Home Secretary of Balochistan, said that ten buses carrying Shia pilgrims had entered Pakistan from Iran on Sunday evening, Dawn reported.
"When the buses were parked at two hotels, there were explosions," Durrani said.
He said the blasts were followed by intense firing near the hotels. "We fear rise in casualties," he added.
Qambar Dashti, the Commissioner Quetta Division, told Dawn that 14 out of the total 18 injured persons were in critical condition. "We have shifted all the injured persons to Combined Military Hospital in Quetta for treatment," he said.
The dead bodies and injured were shifted in six army helicopters from Pak-Iran border Taftan to Quetta on Monday morning.
"We will hand over the dead bodies to their heirs after completing identification," Dashti said.
Pakistan’s Frontier Corps and Levies personnel were called to bring the situation under control.
A Sunni-militant group Jaishul Islam claimed responsibility for the attack.
Militants have been attacking Shia pilgrims in Mastung and other parts of Balochistan for more than eight years.
Governor of Balochistan Muhammad Khan Achakzai and Chief Minister Balochistan Abdul Malik Baloch strongly condemned the incidents and termed it a pre-planned conspiracy to destroy the peace of the province.
In their separate statements, they directed law enforcement agencies to double their efforts to arrest the perpetrators of the terrorists attacks.
