At Least Six Killed In Bomb Blasts At Pakistan Market: Reports - RTT News

9/18/2012 6:27 PM ET
(RTTNews) - At least six people have been killed after two near-simultaneous bomb explosions ripped through a busy market in Pakistan's southern port city Karachi, media reports citing local officials said Tuesday.

The two bomb explosions reportedly took place in quick succession at the busy Hyderi Market in eastern Karachi. A young girl and a three-month-old baby were among those killed in the blasts, which also left at least 24 others injured.

Local authorities believe the bombings targeted a mosque belonging to the Bohra Ismaili Shia community, an Islamic minority sect. Most of the causalities in the explosions were said to be members of the sect. While the first explosion was caused by a bomb planted on a motor cycle, the second blast was caused by a bomb hidden in a car.

Earlier on Tuesday, at least five people were killed and 13 others injured after a bus carrying Shiite Muslim pilgrims was hit by a roadside bomb explosion in Pakistan's Balochistan province. The incident, which happened near the city of Quetta, was blamed on Sunni militants active in the region.

Notably, militant attacks on both civilian and security targets in Pakistan have been on the rise ever since al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden was killed in a raid by U.S. Special Forces in the garrison city of Abbottabad in May 2011. The incident, coupled with U.S. drone attacks inside Pakistan, have strained relations between Islamabad and Washington.

Washington is also unhappy over Pakistan's failure to act against Haqqani Islamist militants who use the border region of North Waziristan as a base for launching attacks on U.S. forces and other foreign coalition troops in neighboring Afghanistan.

Pakistan has so far resisted U.S. calls to take on Islamist militants in North Waziristan despite launching anti-Taliban operations in six other regions in the country's troubled north-west. Nevertheless, latest reports indicate that Islamabad is in the midst of preparations for an anti-militant operation in North Waziristan also.

There has been marked improvement in relations between Pakistan and the United States after Islamabad decided to reopen NATO supply routes it had closed earlier after a NATO air-strike killed 24 Pakistani soldiers in November. The routes were reopened in July after Washington tendered a formal apology on the issue.

by RTT Staff Writer

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