Toll in Pakistan attacks rises

85 people confirmed dead in 3 assaults near Ramadan’s end

Pakistani troops leave after a shootout with militants Saturday on the outskirts of Peshawar, Pakistan.
Pakistani troops leave after a shootout with militants Saturday on the outskirts of Peshawar, Pakistan.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan -- The death toll from twin blasts in the northwestern town of Parachinar climbed to 67 people on Saturday, bringing the overall death toll from three separate attacks in Pakistan to 85, with several others in critical condition, officials said.

Shahid Khan, a government official in Parachinar, confirmed the toll Saturday, saying residents who had been preparing to celebrate the end of Ramadan were now in mourning.

He said that, during the day, another 12 critically wounded died at different hospitals. Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, a Sunni extremist group, claimed the Friday twin bombings at a crowded market in the Shiite-dominated town, linking them to sectarian fighting in Syria.

Dr. Sabir Hussain, an official at a government-run hospital in Parachinar, said they had received 261 victims of the twin blasts, with 62 people listed in critical condition.

Another 14 people were killed Friday in a suicide car bombing near the office of the provincial police chief in the southwestern city of Quetta, police spokesman Shahzada Farhat said. That attack was claimed by a breakaway Taliban faction and the Islamic State extremist group. Gunmen in the port city of Karachi attacked police officers at a roadside restaurant, killing four of them before fleeing, senior police officer Asif Ahmed said.

Maj. Gen. Asif Ghafoor, a military spokesman, linked the attacks to what he called militant sanctuaries in neighboring Afghanistan and promised greater border security. The two countries often accuse each other of turning a blind eye to militants.

Security forces raided a militant hideout in the northwestern city of Peshawar before dawn Saturday, triggering a shootout in which three Pakistani Taliban were killed and two police officers and a soldier were wounded, senior police official Sajjad Khan said. He said the militants were making bombs that likely would have been used to target holiday festivities.

Khan said the identity of the slain militants was not immediately known. But intelligence officials said one of the men has been identified as a wanted militant commander linked to the Islamic State. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif condemned the attacks, which came just days before Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim holiday that marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadan.

Parachinar, a majority Shiite town, has been targeted by Sunni militant groups several times in recent years.

In March, a car bomb exploded near a Shiite mosque in Parachinar, killing 24 people, mostly Shiites. In January, a bomb ripped through the crowded market of Parachinar, killing 22 people and wounding more than 100. In December 2015, the same market was targeted by a suicide bomber, killing 22.

Friday's car bombing in Quetta could be heard across the city, and it shattered the windows of nearby buildings, Farhat, the police spokesman, said. TV footage showed several badly damaged cars and a road littered with broken glass.

Hours after the attack, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a breakaway faction of the Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility. Later Friday, the Islamic State group said in a competing claim that it was behind the attack, adding that one of its followers targeted the police post in Quetta, detonating his suicide belt there. It also released a photograph of who it said was the attacker, identified as Abu Othman al-Khorasani.

Information for this article was contributed by Abdul Sattar and Zarar Khan of The Associated Press.

A Section on 06/25/2017

Upcoming Events