At least 28 killed in Pakistani bomber attackJuly 1, 2013 - 10:20 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - At least 28 people were killed and dozens wounded in the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta on Sunday, June 30 when a suicide bomber attacked a largely Shi'ite Muslim neighborhood, police said, according to Reuters. The blast appeared to be the latest in an escalating campaign of gun and bomb attacks by militants on ethnic Hazaras in Quetta because they belong to Pakistan's Shi'ite minority. Mir Zubair, Quetta's police chief, said a suicide bomber riding a bicycle had detonated his explosives when he was stopped at a barrier in the Hazara Town district, a Hazara enclave on the western edge of the city. "The dead included nine women, a girl and a 14-year-old boy," Zubair told reporters. Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, a militant group which has carried out many gun and bomb attacks on Hazaras in Quetta, said it was behind the bombing. A spokesman for the group called the Express News television channel to make the claim. The group is aligned with the Takfiri Deobandi school of Islam, which sees Shi'ites as infidels. Lashkar has intensified its campaign in Quetta this year. Earlier this month, it claimed responsibility for an attack in which a suicide bomber attacked a bus carrying women students in Quetta and then gunmen stormed a hospital treating survivors. More than 20 people were killed from various ethnic groups. Top stories Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow on April 22 to hold talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". Partner news | Police try to impede Armenian Church head’s access to war memorial Police tried to stop the supreme head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Catholicos Karekin II, from visiting a war memorial. Greece says ready to help as Armenia fights flooding consequences Greece is ready to assist Armenia in combatting the consequences of deadly floods in the country’s north. “He will leave”: Protest leader no longer demands meeting with Pashinyan Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan no longer demands a meeting with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. Lemkin Institute petition seeks release of Armenians in Azerbaijan The Lemkin Institute is deeply concerned about the continued illegal detention of political prisoners from Karabakh in Azerbaijan. |