Warning: Undefined array key "rbname" in /data/rantburg.com/www/pgrecentorg.php on line 14
Hello !
Recent Appearances... Rantburg
Abdul Razzaq Abdul Razzaq Taliban Afghanistan 20030720  
Abdul Razzaq Nafees Abdul Razzaq Nafees Taliban Afghanistan 20031006  
Abdul Razzaq Sikander Abdul Razzaq Sikander Supreme Council of Global Jihad Terror Networks 20030813  
  Abdul Razzaq Sikander Learned Elders of Islam India-Pakistan 20030325  
Mullah Abdul Razzaq Mullah Abdul Razzaq Taliban Afghanistan/South Asia 20040315  
Mullah Abdul Razzaq Nafees Mullah Abdul Razzaq Nafees Taliban Afghanistan 20030905  

Syria-Lebanon-Iran
ISIS landmine kills 14 Syrian truffle hunters in Raqqa: State media
2024-02-29
[Rudaw] At least 14 truffle hunters were killed by a land mine allegedly left behind by Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems....
(ISIS) holy warriors in the Syrian desert, state media reported on Sunday.

"Fourteen citizens were martyred and eight others were maimed as a result of a mine explosion left behind by ISIS bully boyz in the Raqqa desert, while they were collecting truffle mushrooms," SANA said, citing a statement from Raqqa Governor Abdul Razzaq Khalifa.

Despite repeated warnings from authorities, hundreds of poverty-stricken Syrians venture into the Badia desert between February and April each year in search of truffles. The desert is known to be a hideout for jihadists and also contains landmines, making it a high-risk area to search for the delicacy.

On Friday, at least five people were killed in an ISIS ambush while truffle hunting in Syria’s central Homs province, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britannia-based war monitor.
Related:
Truffle hunters: 2023-04-25 Four women from Syria's Raqqa lost their lives while chasing truffles
Truffle hunters: 2023-04-17 Good Morning
Truffle hunters: 2023-04-17 Unknown gunmen kill 5 shepherds in Syria's Deir ez-Zor
Related:
Badia desert: 2022-03-26 How jihadist groups choose to fight conventionally-Report
Badia desert: 2020-07-05 Clashes between the Syrian regime forces and ISIS have killed more than 40 fighters on the two sides in just 48 hours
Badia desert: 2019-06-18 Car explosion hits downtown Qamishli
Link


India-Pakistan
Pak Purge: Anti-terrorism court grants bail to Sheikh Rashid in May 9 riots case
2023-11-07
[GEO.TV] An anti-terrorism court in Rawalpindi on Monday granted interim bail to Awami Moslem League (AML) chief Sheikh Rashid Ahmed in a case pertaining to the violent mostly peaceful incidents of May 9.

The former interior minister was granted bail against surety bonds worth Rs50,000 in a case registered with the Waris Khan cop shoppe in Rawalpindi.

The May 9 riots were triggered almost across the country after deposed prime minister Imran Khan
...aka The Great Khan, who ain't the sharpest bulb on the national tree...
’s arrest in the £190 million settlement case. Hundreds of PTI workers and big shots were put behind bars for their involvement in violence and attacks on military installations.

During the protests, the miscreants targeted the civil and military installations including — Jinnah House and the General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi. The military termed May 9 "Black Day" and decided to try the protesters under the Army Act.

Resurfacing after a month-long disappearance on October 20, the close aide Khan, however, sought pardon for "commoners" involved in the May 9 incidents.

At the outset of today’s hearing, Rashid appeared before the court accompanied by his lawyer Sardar Abdul Razzaq Khan. During the court of proceedings, Rashid’s counsel argued that his client had nothing to do with the events of May 9, adding that there was no evidence showing his client’s involvement in the violent mostly peaceful protests.

At this, the court approved his interim bail and ordered him to submit surety bonds worth Rs50,000.

Meanwhile,
...back at the the conspirators' cleverly concealed hideout the long-awaited message arrived. They quickly got to work with their decoder rings...
ATC judge Justice Malik Ejaz Asif asked: "Sheikh sahib! You are looking weak. Is your health okay?"

"I lost 31kg weight during a 40-day Chilla [isolation]" replied the former interior minister.
Link


India-Pakistan
Pak Purge: Parvez Elahi rearrested shortly after being released in Lahore Master Plan case
2023-09-18
[GEO.TV] Liberty eluded Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf
...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations....
(PTI) President Parvez Elahi yet again as Imran Khan
...aka The Great Khan, who who convinced himself that playing cricket qualified him to lead a nuclear-armed nation with severe personality disorders...
's close aide was rearrested shortly after being discharged in a case relating to irregularities in the Lahore Master Plan 2050 project by an anti-corruption court in the Punjab
1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard
2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers
3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots....

capital city, confirmed his counsel Rana Intezar Hussain on Sunday.
After hearing arguments from both sides, the anti-corruption court (ATC) judge discharged Elahi in the graft case and ordered to release him, his lawyer said.

Citing the officials, the counsel said that Elahi — the former Punjab chief minister — was rearrested this time in a terrorism case and was being shifted to Adiala jail in Rawalpindi.

Earlier, the PTI president was produced before the duty judicial magistrate a day after he was taken into custody by the ACE from jail. He was granted bail from an anti-terrorism court in the Federal Judicial Complex (FJC) attack case on Friday.

The duty magistrate approved ACE's request seeking the remand of Elahi.

ATC Judge Abual Hasnat Zulqarnain had approved Elahi's bail against the surety bond of Rs20,000 — which Elahi's legal team failed to pay.

He faces four corruption cases, according to ACE officials.

The Punjab ACE arrested the former chief minister from outside the Adiala jail on Saturday.

According to the ACE, Elahi was arrested in four corruption cases, filed against him. He was transported to the ACE headquarters in Lahore on Saturday evening.

As per the statement issued by a spokesperson for ACE Punjab, the PTI politician was apprehended in Rawalpindi in connection with the Lahore Master Plan corruption case.

The statement said Elahi allegedly manipulated the Lahore Master Plan project for personal financial gains. He attempted to include his own lands in Lahore by altering the plan by forging the seals and monograms of the consulting firm to do so.

Elahi’s lawyer Sardar Abdul Razzaq had confirmed his arrest and said an anti-corruption case had been registered in Punjab.

Speaking to media persons, counsel Razzaq said no corruption case has been registered against his client in Punjab.

"Elahi's bail amount wasn't paid yet. He was not even released before being re-arrested in another case," the lawyer added.

Razzaq also said that Elahi was taken into custody from the jail premises and was taken to court for transitory remand. "Elahi has been arrested for the 12th time," he said.
Related:
Parvez Elahi: 2023-09-06 Good Morning
Parvez Elahi: 2023-09-06 Liberty eludes PTI President Parvez Elahi yet again, rearrested by CTD
Parvez Elahi: 2023-09-04 'Puppet being used to defame Pakistan globally,' Sanaullah slams Imran for hiring UK lawyer
Link


India-Pakistan
JUI-F leader Hafiz Hamdullah injured in Mastung blast
2023-09-15
[GEO.TV] Jamaat Ulema-e-Islam
...Assembly of Islamic Clergy, or JUI, is a Pak Deobandi (Hanafi) political party. There are two main branches, one led by Maulana Fazlur Rahman, and one that was led by Maulana Samiul Haq. Fazl is active in Pak politix and Sami spent more time running his madrassah until his secretary rubbed him out in a jealous rage. Both branches sponsor branches of the Taliban, though with plausible deniability...
Fazl (JUI-F) leader Hafiz Hamdullah on Thursday sustained injuries in a blast that took place in Mastung, Balochistan
...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it...
According to initial reports, the blast took place near a vehicle which injured Hamdullah and several others.

Police rushed to the site of the incident and cordoned off the area.

Mustang Deputy Commissioner Abdul Razzaq Sasoli said several people were maimed in the Mustang blast and added that the three injured including the JUI-F leader had been shifted to a hospital in Quetta.

The official said the JUI-F leader was provided initial medical aid in Mastung before being shifted to the lovely provincial capital for further treatment.

He said the JUI-F leader’s condition is out of danger.

Speaking to Geo News, JUI-F spokesperson Aslam Ghauri said Hamdullah sustained injuries but his condition is not critical.

"He hasn't been critically injured. His button men and two of Hamdullah's party colleagues have also been injured but their condition is stable," he added.

Ghauri said that Hamdullah was travelling from Quetta to Kalat when he came under attack.

He also expressed ignorance about the nature of the blast.

According to a health department spokesperson, the 11 injured were shifted to Shaheed Nawab Ghous Bakhsh Raisani Memorial Hospital in Mastung.

The spokesperson added that one of the persons is at death's door.

The Senior Superintendent Police (SSP) Mustang said 11 people including Hamdullah injured in the blast.

The nature of the Mustang explosion is being ascertained, the senior police official added.

Link


India-Pakistan
More on the attack on the Karachi police station
2023-02-19
Follow up to this story from yesterday.
[Dawn]
    • Two gunnies rubbed out, one blows himself up

    • Three law enforcers, one civilian martyred; 19 injured during operation by Rangers, army, police

    • TTP claims responsibility for attack

Security forces cleared a five-storey police compound on the port city’s main thoroughfare in an hours-long operation during which three gunnies of the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban
...mindless ferocity in a turban...
Pakistain (TTP) were killed while two coppers, one Rangers official and a citizen embraced martyrdom on Friday evening.

At least 19 men, mostly police and Rangers officials, sustained injuries in the exchange of fire with gunnies who stormed the heavily guarded Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
Police Office after lobbing a hand grenade at its main entrance, police and hospital officials said.

The outlawed TTP on the social media grabbed credit for the latest ambush, which came as a grim reminder of attacks on Bannu CTD complex and Beautiful Downtown Peshawar
...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistain's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire...
Police Lines mosque in recent months.

Just half an hour after sunset in the port city, officials said, three gunnies parked an Indus Corolla car at the KPO entrance before hurling a hand grenade at the gate. Wearing shalwar kameez, the gunnies brought with them "three bags of food", indicating their preparation for a prolonged siege, DIG East-Zone Muquddas Haider, who was among the senior officers leading the operation, told Dawn on late Friday night.

While officials initially said exact number of gunnies could not be ascertained who attacked the metropolis police chief office at around 7:10pm, Adviser to Sindh Chief Minister Barrister Murtaza Wahab after midnight shared details of 23 casualties — four martyred and 19 injured — on Twitter.

He earlier had tweeted, "The latest information is that 4 people were martyred (2 coppers, 1 rangers & 1 civilian) while 14 people are injured, who are being treated. Out of the injured 1 person is critical while the condition of 13 injured persons is stable."

Multiple explosions were heard during the joint operation, which was completed at 10:48pm, by Pakistain Rangers, army and police personnel.

DIG Haider said there were three attackers, all clad in shalwar kameez. One of them went kaboom! on the fourth floor of the building during the operation, while two others were rubbed out on the rooftop, he said.

Footage shared on social media, though unverified, showed flames and smoke emitting from the top floor of the highrise, with the sound of a kaboom and a man uttering ’God is great’ while cautioning people to stay away and that another blast might occur.

Both tracks of the busy Sharea Faisal, which links the city centre with airport, remained shut for traffic for hours during the clearance operation.

According to Rangers’ spokesperson, an officer of brigadier rank led the anti-terrorist operation during which all five floors of the building were cleared at night.

In a statement, police spokesperson said this was a major operation, which was completed by DIGs of RRF, South and East, respectively, as well as Rangers and army personnel.

During the operation, according to the police, one terrorist blew up an explosive jacket while the police firing left his two accomplices others dead.

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah also reached the Command and Control Centre at IGP office after receiving information about the attack and monitored the operation.

He directed the DIGs concerned and the Rangers officers to send personnel from their respective zones to the site.

Police surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed said that three bodies of law enforcers and a civilian were brought at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre. She said the martyred officials were identified as police constable Ghulam Abbas and Rangers sub-inspector Taimur, while the identity of another police official could not be ascertained immediately.

A civilian, Ajmal Masih, was also among the dear departed, the police surgeon added.

The Rangers spokesperson later said the martyred SI Taimur originally hailed from Multan
...Home of the Multan Sultans...
, adding that their six personnel were also injured during the operation.

According Dr Syed, some of the injured were identified as Edhi worker Sajid, Rangers personnel Abdul Raheem, Imran, Tahir, Umair, Abdul Latif and Aftab, and coppers Latif, Abdul Khaliq, Rizwan, Haji Abdul Razzaq and Sarab.

Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah, meanwhile, told Geo News that the federal government was in touch with the Sindh police.

He said he had spoken to the chief secretary and IGP who confirmed that six to seven hard boyz entered the building by hurling a hand grenade after parking the vehicle. Since a general security threat existed following the Peshawar mosque attack, all the institutions were fully alert across the country, he said.
Link


Iraq
A ‘worrying’ outcome.. the number of drug users increases continuously in Iraq
2022-12-12
[Shafaq News] Over the past three years, the number of suspected drug users and dealers has steadily increased. While the relevant security services stress the need for everyone to work together to eradicate drugs, specialists identify the factors contributing to their spread and call for establishing specialized clinics to address this situation.

Due to its proximity to nations where drug cultivation and trafficking are common, Iraq has recently emerged as one of the countries where drugs are widely used, particularly in southern cities like Basra.

Daily operations by Iraqi forces against the drug trafficking networks have resulted in the detention of thousands of traffickers and addicts, significantly aiding the containment of drug import networks.

TARGETTING BIG DEALERS
Colonel Bilal Subhi, the General Directorate of Drug Control's media director, stated to Shafaq News Agency, "Despite its limited capacity, the Directorate is working hard to tackle drug crimes. According to recent orders from Interior Minister Abdul Amir al-Shammari, it is working to target prominent narcos and has suffered numerous martyrdoms and injuries in the process. It has done this in collaboration with all security services."

According to a statement, the interior minister had dismissed the director of drug control in Basra. The statement stated that the decision was made "for his failure to perform the duty and tasks entrusted to him". The minister emphasized in another statement that "drugs are no less dangerous than terrorism and must be vigorously fought."

According to Subhi, "the number of those arrested on drug charges is constantly rising compared to prior years. For example, it reached 7,500 in 2020, 12,800 in 2021, and in 2022 it reached 13,700 defendants."

By contacting the General Directorate for Drug Control's toll-free hotline, 178 for all of Iraq's governorates, citizens played a key role in the operations to dismantle such criminal groups."

He expressed hope that "everyone will cooperate in fighting this crime alongside the Ministry of Interior and educating the community to curb it, from the family and school to the media and civil society institutions, as well as the tribes."

Moreover, Interior Minister held an extensive conference in the presence of tribal elders last week, in which he stressed that "the authentic Iraqi tribes are the ones who have preserved civil peace and are the safety valve in Iraqi life," urging them to "help fight phenomena that are alien to Iraqi society, including drugs."

VARYING USERS RATES
"The numbers of drug users vary among state institutions themselves; the Ministry of Interior says that half of the young people use drugs, while the Ministry of Education says that the number of student users is less than 10%," said Ali al-Bayati, a former member of Iraq's High Commission for Human Rights.

"If we accept the lowest of these estimates, which is the Ministry of Education's claim that there are approximately one million drug users in Iraq, dealing with them is surely not that simple," he continued.

"As a result, the country has to establish dozens of clinics with solid infrastructure, staff, and competencies to handle this file," he said, adding that "Iraq has a massive deficit of trained staff in this field."

Similarly, the Iraqi Ministry of Health reported that since the start of 2022, 4,500 drug addicts had been treated. According to the ministry's mental health adviser Imad Abdul Razzaq, "the most common users are between 15 and 30 years old."

Abdul Razzaq added, "institutions and centers for addiction treatment are available in all governorates, and the ministry intends to construct more of them."
Link


India-Pakistan
1 dead, 6 injured in a mysterious blast in Jammu and Kashmir's Kupwara district
2021-09-17
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]
Girl dead, five family members injured in mysterious blast in north Kashmir's Handwara
A 17-year-old girl died while five other members of her family were maimed in a mysterious blast in Tarathpora Ramhall area of Handwara in north Kashmir
...a disputed territory lying between India and Pakistain. After partition, the Paks grabbed half of it and call it Azad (Free) Kashmir. The remainder they refer to as "Indian Occupied Kashmir". They have fought four wars with India over it, the score currently 4-0 in New Delhi's favor. After 72 years of this nonsense, India cut the Gordian knot in 2019, removing the area's special status, breaking off Ladakh as a separate state, and allowing people from other areas to settle (or in the case of the Pandits, to resettle) there....
’s Kupwara district on Thursday.

Quoting official sources, news agency GNS reported that the blast occurred in the house of Ghulam Mohammad Wani, killing his teenager daughter Shabnum Bano on the spot while five other members of the family were maimed who were shifted to hospital.

The injured have been identified as Ghulam Mohammad Wani, 45, son of Abdul Razzaq Wani, Raja Begum, 38, wife of Ghulam Mohammed Wani, Razzaq's wife Janti Begum 70, Rifat, 17, daughter of Ghulam Mohammed Wani and Mukhti Begum, 34.

It is said that some members of the family are dealing with scrap and might have brought home the explosive with the trash.

A police officer told GNS that nature of the blast is being investigated adding "it seems there is no militancy-related angle to it."
Link


India-Pakistan
Two killed, eight injured in Panjgur blast
2020-12-28
[Dawn] Two people were killed and eight others injured in a kaboom in the Panjgur area of Makran on Saturday.

Police said the blast occurred in the parking area of Aftab Shaheed Football ground soon after a match had ended.

Panjgur Deputy Commissioner Abdul Razzaq Sasoli said two people were killed on the spot in the earth-shattering kaboom. "It was a powerful blast that rocked the district headquarters," he added.

Mr Sasoli said the blast occurred soon after the football match concluded.

However,
some people cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go...
no player was injured in the blast.

Police and personnel of Frontier Corps
...a provincial paramilitary force. Total manpower is about 80,000. They are tasked to help local law enforcement in the maintenance of law and order, and to carry out border patrol and a..the Antwerp-based Salafist organization that had campaigned to introduce Sharia law to Belgium before single-handedly making Belgium the highest per capita supplier of jihadis to Syria in Europe. There was a big trial in Antwerp in 2015, but most of those convicted were in absentia...nti-smuggling operations....
rushed to the site soon after the blast and cordoned off the area and took the dead and the injured to the district hospital.

Initial investigation revealed that an improvised bomb exploded by remote control.

It seems the dear departed who were sitting in car after watching the football match were the target of the blast.

Several cars and cycle of violences were damaged in the earth-shattering kaboom while nearby houses were also affected by its impact.

The bomb disposal squad collected the evidence from the blast site.

The dear departed were identified as Rahim Jan and Hasan Jan. Both were residents of Bonistan, a locality on the outskirts of Panjgur town.

The injured included Mohammad Sameer, Zahid, Javed Ahmed, Jalal, Mehmood, Asad Ali, Murad Ali and Ali Bakhsh.

The bodies were handed over to the families after completing medico-legal formalities.

No one grabbed credit for the blast.
Link


India-Pakistan
FIR registered against JUI-F leader, 10 others for disrupting Aurat March in Islamabad
2020-03-10
[DAWN] Islamabad's Kohsar Police on Monday registered a case against 12 individuals – including local religious leaders and JUI-F's Maulana Abdul Majeed Hizravi – for trying to disrupt yesterday's Aurat March in the capital.

On Sunday, one person was injured after participants of the march in Islamabad were attacked by some men who shouted slogans and pelted stones at them.

The rally was being held in a designated area outside the National Press Club when the incident happened. Police had to intervene to control the the situation before it escalated.

The FIR names 11 leaders – and 300 to 400 unidentified persons – including Maulana Shabir Ahmed Usmani, Maulana Hafiz Maqsood Ahmed, Maulana Rizwan Makki, Mufti Abdullah, Maulana Abdul Waheed Qasmi, Maulana Abdul Rasheed Tauheedi, Maulana Liaquat Ali Turabi, Maulana Nasir Ahmed, Maulana Asadullah Abbasi, Maulana Abdul Majeed Hizravi and Maulana Abdul Razzaq Haidri.

According to the FIR, the leaders incited violence against participants of Aurat March, after which some people pelted stones at the marchers. The miscreants had illegally occupied the road across the National Press Club, the FIR reads, adding that they also tried to enter the premises of the march by using force against security officials present there.

Related:
JUI-F: 2020-03-07 IHC throws out petition seeking to stop Aurat March
JUI-F: 2020-02-15 Fazlur Rehman should be tried under Article 6, says PM Imran
JUI-F: 2020-01-18 Rawalpindi ATC sentences TLP chief Khadim Rizvi's nephew, brother to 55 years in jail
Related:
Aurat March: 2020-03-07 IHC throws out petition seeking to stop Aurat March
Aurat March: 2020-02-25 LHC to hear arguments on petition against holding of Aurat March
Aurat March: 2019-10-24 Pursued by NAB, JUI-F leader Akram Khan Durrani files pre-arrest bail plea
Link


Arabia
Ali Abdul Razzaq al-Shari, a leader of the Iran-backed Houthi militia, has been killed west of the city of Taiz in Yemen
2020-01-07
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]
Another one bites the dust? How nice.
Link


India-Pakistan
Two killed in Pakistan mosque bomb blast
2019-08-17
(mosque+blast) ~ (cheese+crackers)
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] At least two people were killed and more than two dozen injured after a blast at a mosque in southwestern Pakistain during Friday prayers, officials said.

Provincial police chief Mohsin Hassan Butt said the earth-shattering kaboom - the latest violence in a string of attacks in restive Balochistan
...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it...
province - was caused by a remotely detonated bomb in the town of Kuchlak.

"Two people including the prayer leader of the mosque have been killed and 25 others were maimed in an IED blast at a mosque," he said.

A second police official, Abdul Razzaq Cheema, confirmed the incident and casualty figures at the mosque, north of bustling provincial capital Quetta.

There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the attack.

Balochistan, Pakistain’s largest and poorest province bordering Afghanistan and Iran, is rife with holy warrior, separatist and sectarian insurgencies, even as incidents of violence have significantly dropped elsewhere in Pakistain.

Militants still retain the ability to carry out attacks, including on major urban centers and tightly-guarded targets, and analysts have long warned that Pakistain is yet to tackle the root causes of extremism.
Khaama Press adds:
An explosion in Quetta city of Pakistain has killed the brother of Mullah Haibatullah, the supreme leader of Taliban
...Arabic for students...
group.

Informed sources have told Rooters that the Hafizullah Ahmadullah, the brother of Mullah Haibatullah was killed in the earth-shattering kaboom along with three others.

A Taliban source has confirmed to Rooters that Ahmadullah was the younger brother of Mullah Haibatullah.

The Taliban group has not formally commented regarding the incident so far.

The explosion took place this afternoon inside a Madrassa in Kuchlak area located in the outskirts of Quetta city.
Update from the Jerusalem Post at 11:00 a.m. EDT:
Taliban leader Haibatullah Akhundzada
...Former deputy to Taliban supremo Mullah Akhtar Mansour, now The Big Man Himself...
was not in the mosque when the bomb went off. The Taliban leader's son was maimed, one of the sources said.

The mosque was known to be visited by members of the Afghan Taliban, the sources said.

"It was a timed device planted under the wooden chair of the prayer leader," said Abdul Razzaq Cheema, chief of police in Quetta, capital of Balochistan province.

One of the sources, who visited the site after the blast, said security at the mosque was always very tight.

Separatist Lions of Islam and Islamist bully boyz are active in Balochistan but many in Pakistan are likely to suspect the Afghan government, which is battling the Taliban over the border in Afghanistan, of the blast.
Related:
Mohsin Hassan Butt: 2019-07-31 5 killed in blast outside police station in Quetta
Mohsin Hassan Butt: 2019-06-27 1 policeman martyred, 4 injured in attack in Police Lines area in Loralai
Related:
Kuchlak: 2018-12-19 A Look Inside The Taliban's Safe Havens in Pakistan
Kuchlak: 2017-09-12 Hazara killings
Kuchlak: 2017-09-11 Three Hazaras among four shot dead in Quetta
Link


India-Pakistan
One killed, 10 injured in blast on Quetta's Mission Road
2019-08-07
[DAWN] At least one person was killed and 10 others injured in a kaboom in Quetta's Mission Road area on Tuesday evening, police said.

The bomb went off in a market located on Mission Road where most of the shops are owned by members of the Hazara
...a grouping of Dari-speaking people of Sino-Tibetan descent inhabiting Afghanistan and Pakistain. They are predominantly Shia Moslems and not particularly warlike, which makes them favored targets...
community, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Quetta Abdul Razzaq Cheema said.

He said the injured were rushed to nearby Civil Hospital Quetta for treatment.

"We are investigating the nature of the blast," the police officer told DawnNewsTV.

The explosion smashed the windows of nearby shops and shopping malls. Police reached the spot as an investigation into the incident went underway.

It was the third blast in the last fortnight in the lovely provincial capital. All three attacks took place on consecutive Tuesdays.

On July 23, a blast had occurred in the Eastern Bypass area which left four people dead and 32 injured. And on July 30, a kaboom near a cop shoppe in the city had left five people dead and 30 others injured.

The banned Tehrik-e-Taliban
...Arabic for students...
Pakistain had grabbed credit for the blast near the cop shoppe.
Related:
Mission Road: 2012-02-20 Quetta shuts down against kidnappings

Link



Warning: Undefined property: stdClass::$T in /data/rantburg.com/www/pgrecentorg.php on line 132
-12 More