| June 2017 Pakistan attacks | |
|---|---|
| Part of theinsurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa | |
  Quetta Parachinar Karachi Location of incidents shown in the map of Pakistan. | |
| Location | Quetta,Parachinar andKarachi,Pakistan |
| Date | 23 June 2017 |
| Target | Law enforcement personnel andcivilians |
Attack type | Suicidecar bombing,targeted killing |
| Weapons | Bombs, including car bomb andexplosive belt |
| Deaths | Quetta - 14 Parachinar - 78 Karachi - 4 |
| Injured | Quetta - 20 Parachinar - 200+ Karachi - 1 |
| Perpetrators | Jamaat-ul-Ahrar ISIL – Khorasan Ansar al-Sharia Pakistan |
| Motive | Terrorism |
On 23 June 2017, a series ofterrorist attacks took place in Pakistan resulting in 96 dead and over 200 wounded. They included asuicide bombing inQuetta targetingpolicemen, followed by a double bombing at a market inParachinar, and the targeted killing of four policemen inKarachi.[1][2][3]
Responsibility for the Quetta attack was claimed byJamaat-ul-Ahrar andISIL,[4] while no group accepted responsibility for the Parachinar attack.[5] According to themilitary, both attacks were coordinated from terrorist sanctuaries inAfghanistan.[6]
The attacks followed earlier blasts that had occurred in Quetta and Parachinar in 2017: Quetta on 13 February[7] and21 April; and Parachinar on21 January and31 March.[8] In response to these andother attacks, the Pakistani military had launchedOperation Radd-ul-Fasaad in February which aimed to eliminate the "residual/latent threat of terrorism".[6] A period of relative calm followed in between, althoughBalochistan witnessed minor violence in June when three security personnel were injured from animprovised explosive device targeting their vehicle, and twosailors were killed after their vehicle was targeted inJiwani.[2]
The bombings were carried out onJumu'atul-Wida, the last Friday of theHijri month ofRamadan before theEid ul-Fitr celebrations.[5][9]
Earlier in the day, asuicidecar bombing took place at 08:45[10] at the ShuhadaChowk onQuetta's Gulistan Road targeting policemen.[11] The attacker rammed his explosives-laden vehicle into a peripheral wall of the Inspector General of Police Ehsan Mehboob's office, but it failed toexplode. The policemen present at the site, unaware of the fact that the car was rigged withexplosives, recovered the vehicle from the wall and brought it to Shuhada Chowk. They ordered the driver — the would-be bomber, to get down and began searching the vehicle. The bomber refused to descend and instead triggered the explosives.[4]
At least 14 people including seven policemen were killed; 20 others including four military personnel, a woman, and a girl were injured. A checkpoint on Mission Road Chowk was destroyed by the blast. Two four-wheelers,rickshaws and motorcycles each were also destroyed and a vehicle carrying military personnel was damaged in the bombing. The shock-wave of the blast smashed windows of several buildings in the neighbourhood[12] and brought down the walls of a nearby girls' school.[4]
Hours after the bombing in Quetta, two back-to-back blasts hit the Turi Market near Tal Adda inParachinar city ofFATA'sKurram Agency.Parachinar is a predominatelyShia-populated town, located near the Afghan border.[8] The first blast took place in the evening around 17:00local time in Turi Market, located just outside of the city's recently designated Red Zone. The explosive device was planted in the market, where many people were busy shopping for Eid. The second explosion targeted rescuers and bystanders, as they rushed to help the survivors of the first blast. A suicide bomber detonated the explosives strapped to his body.[13] At least 72 people were killed and more than 200 others were injured in the twin bombings.[14][15][2][16]
Separately in Karachi, unidentified gunmenopened fire on fourpolicemen whilst they were observingiftar in the evening at a roadside restaurant inSITE, killing them on the spot.[17]
In Quetta, the local police, Balochistan Constabulary andFrontier Corps personnel cordoned off the area. The casualties were shifted to the Civil Hospital where a state of emergency was declared. The injured military personnel were driven to theCombined Military Hospital (CMH), Quetta. At least five of the injured sustained life-threatening injuries.[4] The funeral prayers for the seven policemen were offered at the Police Lines, Quetta.[4]
In Parachinar, security forces sealed off the affected area and conducted a search operation in the adjoining areas following the blast. A state-of-emergency was imposed across all hospitals in Parachinar.[16] According to the ISPR, thePakistan Army dispatched two helicopters fromPeshawar to Parachinar "for the speedy evacuation of the injured to Peshawar" and airlifted 15 critically injured.[8][13]
According to Bomb Disposal Squad officials, 90 to 95 kilograms of explosives were used in the Quetta car bombing.[4][18] While according to the Director General of Civil Defence, 75 kilograms of explosives were used in the attack.[11] Authorities examined CCTV footage of the area to understand further details of the incident.[19] According toBalochistan's Home Secretary Dr Akbar Harifal, security had been beefed up in Quetta and other areas of the province following the attack.[4]
According to the Director-General of ISPR, Major GeneralAsif Ghafoor, security and surveillance of the Pakistan–Afghanistan border was enhanced with stringent actions against illegal border crossers, in the aftermath of the Parachinar attack.[13]
On 24 June, police and military sources reported that five terrorists were killed and nine security personnel injured during an intelligence-based operation in Peshawar'sChamkani andMathra areas. A "high profile terrorist commander" was reported amongst those killed.[20]
Asad Mansoor, a spokesman of the bannedJamaat-ul-Ahrar (aTehrik-i-Taliban splinter group), claimed his group was behind the Quetta bombing, while the militantIslamic State (ISIL) group also claimed responsibility, saying that one of its followers had carried out the attack.[4] ISIL also released a photograph of the alleged attacker, identified as Abu Othman Khorasani.[21][22] Anwarul Haq Kakar, aBalochistan government spokesman, saidIndia had arole in the attack in Quetta.[11][23]
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the Parachinar attack.[5] Pakistan's interior ministerChaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said such incidents always took place whenever Pakistan'sborder with Afghanistan was opened up. He added: "It is important that we police our borders effectively and protect them from outside threats."[2]
In Karachi, pamphlets belonging to an unknown militant group — Ansar al-Sharia Pakistan — were found on the crime scene.[17]
On 24 June, army chiefQamar Javed Bajwa chaired a high-level meeting inRawalpindi and called on Afghanistan to "do more" in the fight against terrorism. According to theISPR, the attacks in Quetta and Parachinar were linked to terrorist sanctuaries in Afghanistan which enjoyed the "patronage of Afghanistan'sNational Directorate of Security (NDS) and India's spy agencyResearch and Analysis Wing".[6][24]
In Parachinar, protesters raided the Parachinar Press Club and severely wounded five journalists. The police then resorted to aerial firing to defuse the situation.[13]
Prime Minister MuhammadNawaz Sharif condemned the terrorist attacks, and ordered for security measures to be tightened across the country.[25] Sharif reiterated that "such acts of terrorism will be dealt with full power of the state" and added that "terrorists are attacking soft targets, and no Muslim can ever imagine to commit such horrific acts."[3][15] PresidentMamnoon Hussain, Senate chairmanRaza Rabbani, Punjab chief ministerShehbaz Sharif, Balochistan governorMuhammad Khan Achakzai, former presidentAsif Ali Zardari and other figures also issued statements denouncing the terrorist incidents.[19]
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairmanImran Khan condemned the attacks, terming them "attacks against the nation".Pakistan Peoples Party chairmanBilawal Bhutto also condemned the blasts, sending "prayers for the bereaved families".[25]
United Nations: United Nations Secretary-GeneralAntónio Guterres condemned the Quetta and Parachinar bombings and extended his condolences to the victims' families. He expressed "hopes [that] those responsible for these crimes will be swiftly brought to justice".[26]