MASTUNG: Fear and outrage gripped residents of Mastung in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province on Saturday, as they convened at Haji Muhammad Rafique Lehri’s residence, mourning his death along with 15 other family members in a suicide attack targeting Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) birth celebration a day ago.
Situated near the provincial capital of Quetta, Mastung is mostly mentioned in the news due to incidents of sectarian violence, insurgency and militant attacks. The security situation in the area has been volatile for years and it is widely considered as one of the more sensitive districts in Balochistan from a security perspective.
Noor Zaib, center, offers prayers during his father's funeral who was killed a day earlier in a suicide bombing that attacked congregation marking Prophet Muhammad's (PBUH) birthday in Mastung, Pakistan on September 30, 2023. (AN photo)
“My elder brother Haji Muhammad Rafique Lehri decided to move forward and approached the chief guest of the rally when I heard a powerful explosion and found my brother bleeding on the ground,” Haji Saifullah Lehri said in a conversation with Arab News.
“We lost 15 family members in the Friday attack,” he continued. “The terrorists who attacked people celebrating the birth anniversary of the Prophet (PBUH) cannot be Muslims.”
The street in Mastung, Pakistan decorated with flags during the celebrations of Prophet Muhammad's birthday on September 30, 2023. (AN photo)
The provincial counterterrorism department (CTD) lodged a police complaint against “unknown terrorists” a day after the bombing. Meanwhile, health officials confirmed the death toll from the incident had surged to 60 after seven seriously wounded people succumbed to their injuries.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, though Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) denied involvement in the violent incident.
Another proscribed entity, Daesh is known for attacks in Pakistan and beyond on religious gatherings and minorities. The group has strong footprints in the country’s southwestern Balochistan province which shares its borders with Afghanistan and Iran, particularly in Mastung district.
Locals gather to attend the funeral prayers of Haji Muhammad Rafique Lehri who was killed a day earlier in a suicide bombing that attacked congregation marking Prophet Muhammad's (PBUH) birthday in Mastung, Pakistan on September 30, 2023. (AN photo)
Daesh also targeted a key Pakistani religious leader, Hafiz Hamdullah, on September 14, though he survived the attack.
Caretaker Federal Interior Minister Sarfaraz Ahmed Bugti announced the state had decided not to tolerate those perpetrating militant violence.
“The state will establish its writ at any cost and we will not spare anyone – whether they are the facilitators or sympathizers [of militants],” he said while addressing a news conference in Quetta.
Meanwhile, Noor Zaib, who lost his father, uncle and cousin in the blast, told Arab News there was limited presence of security personnel during the Eid Milad ul Nabi celebrations on Friday morning.
He said the people of his district had witnessed two blasts within a one-month span, adding the government could not be seen anywhere.
“My ears were ringing after the powerful bang of the suicide blast,” he recalled. “Three of our family members were killed on the spot. That is when we brought their bodies home instead of taking them to hospital.”
“We don’t know who was involved in the blast,” Zaib said. “Only God knows who attacked people celebrating the Prophet's birth anniversary. But the government must try to arrest the perpetrators of the attack.”
