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28 March 2024

Gunmen kill 9 in Pakistan mosque mosque

Published
By Reuters

Gunmen in Pakistan fired on the vehicle of a politician driving past worshippers leaving a mosque on the Muslim holy day of Eid, killing nine people andinjuring 27 in the western city of Quetta, police said.

Quetta is the capital of eastern Baluchistan province, where several militant groups are active, including the PakistaniTaliban, who claimed responsibility for a suicide bomb attack that killed 30 people at a policeman's funeral on Thursday.

The United States has warned citizens not to travel to Pakistan and has ordered the evacuation of non-essential stafffrom its consulate in the northeastern city of Lahore due to thethreat of attack.

Police official Bashir Brohi said Friday's shooting seemedto have been aimed at former provincial minister Ali Mohammad Jattack as his vehicle went by, but the motive and perpetratorswere unclear.

"The majority of the injured faithful were coming from themosque," said Brohi. "It was an armed attack on the formerminister ... it was not an attack on the mosque."

The attack is the latest instance of spiraling militantviolence since Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif took office twomonths ago, with a string of high-profile attacks in the last two weeks.

Sharif's government has not yet presented a securitystrategy, despite campaign promises to negotiate with militantgroups. Security in the capital, Islamabad, was tightened in therun-up to Eid, which ends the Ramadan fasting month.

The United States shut nearly two dozen missions across theMiddle East after a worldwide alert on Aug. 2, warning Americansthat al Qaeda may be planning attacks in August, particularly inthe Middle East and North Africa.

It was unclear when the Lahore consulate would open, a US embassy spokeswoman said.

Tensions have also risen this week with Pakistan'sneighbour, India, after five of its soldiers were killed nearthe border running through disputed Kashmir.