QUETTA, July 14 (TNS): Caretaker Balochistan government has announced a two day mourning in the province on Saturday after 131 people were martyred in a suicide blast in Mastang, the blast was targeted on a political rally of Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) leader Nawabzada Siraj Raisani who was also among the martyrs in the unfortunate incident.
Authorities said the suicide bomber detonated in the middle of a compound where the political meeting was taking place, in Mastung’s Darengarh area. The blast was the latest in a string of attacks that have spurred fears of violence ahead of the general election on July 25, and came hours after four people were killed and 39 injured in a bomb blast targetting a JUI-F convoy in Bannu on Friday.
The BAP has cancelled its election rally in Quetta today in memory of the deceased.
The Pakistan Bar Council has announced two-day mourning and is boycotting all court proceedings today in condemnation of the tragedy.
Funeral prayers for Siraj Raisani will be offered at 3pm in the provincial capital today. He will be laid to rest in Kanak, Mastung.
A case would be registered against the attack once all necessary proceedings have been conducted, officials added.
The Mastung attack was the most lethal since Taliban militants assaulted Peshawar’s Army Public School in 2014, killing over 150 people, mostly children, and one of the deadliest in the country´s long struggle with terrorism.
On Tuesday, a bomb targeted a rally by the Awami National Party (ANP) in Peshawar, martyring local ANP leader Haroon Bilour along with 21 others. Thousands flocked to his funeral the next day.
