Lashkar-e-Jhangavi Terror Group Sets Off Multiple Bombs in Pakistan: 120 Killed, 265 Injured

As many as 100 people were killed and 200 injured in suicide and car bomb blasts in Quetta's Alamdar Road area on Thursday. Before the twin blasts, in the afternoon a bomb detonated near a vehicle of security forces in the center of the city. Two cameramen from private TV channels, a computer operator of a news agency, nine police personnel, and two officials number among the dead. A majority of the people killed in the Alamdar Road blast were from the Hazara Shia community.

The banned sectarian militant organization Lashkar-e-Jhangavi claimed responsibility for the blasts on Alamdar Road.

Hamid Shakil, the deputy inspector general of the police, told journalists that 81 people have been killed, and more than 120 injured, including 10 army and paramilitary personnel in two blasts. The death toll may rise, due to the serious condition of the severely injured people, he added.

The first blast took place in a snooker club on Alamdar Road when people were busy playing the game. Several people were killed or injured in the blast. They were told that it seemed to be a suicide bomb blast.

Police, people who lived in the area, workers from social organizations, and media teams rushed to the site of the explosion soon after the first blast, and started taking the injured to hospitals.

A second blast took place just 10 minutes later than the first one, outside the snooker club, where a large number of people, police, rescue workers and journalists were still gathered. The majority of people were killed in the second blast.

Another blast hit Swat Valley. It disrupted a religious gathering at a Tableeghi [religious preacher] center killing at least 25 and injuring 70 people, in the once militant-infested district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Deputy commissioner told media that cause of the blast is still unknown. "We are in the process of investigation," he said.

Hundreds of people got together for special Thursday night prayers at the religious preaching center.

Security forces cordoned the area. The dead and injured were taken to hospital in Saidu Sharif, where a senior doctor confirmed that the bodies and wounded showed signs of a bomb attack. There was a smell of explosives. Some bodies of the wounded had cuts caused by shrapnel and ball bearings always used in explosive devices, casualty medical officer Dr. Iqbal noted.