PESHAWAR: A bomb on a donkey cart killed three people at a Sufi shrine in Peshawar and a blast at a mosque in the southwest killed two on Thursday, officials said. The explosives in the Peshawar blast were planted near the Panj Peer shrine on the outskirts of the city, which runs into Pakistan's tribal belt strongholds of Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants. “Three people have died and 21 are wounded,” police official Asif Iqbal told AFP. The dead included a five-year-old boy and a four-year-old girl who had come with their parents, he added. “The bomb was planted in a donkey cart parked near the shrine,” he said. The donkey, whose front legs were tied with a rope, was blown to pieces, he said. The device was fitted with a timer and carried between eight and 10 kilograms of explosives, he said. Worshipers had gathered for a weekly event at the shrine, normally held on Thursday evenings, when the bomb detonated. “It appears that the target was the worshippers who were gathered here,”another police officer, Tahir Ayub, said. The shrine houses the graves of several Sufi saints. The tomb of popular Pashto poet Rahman Baba is also near the Panj Peer shrine. Almost simultaneously another bomb exploded in a mosque in the southwestern city of Quetta, killing two worshippers and wounding 13 others, local administration chief Ahmed Ghilzai said. “The home-made device was placed in the courtyard of Farooqia mosque. It went off when people were saying their afternoon prayers,” he said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility but militants such as the Taliban vehemently oppose Sufi worshippers, who follow a mystical strain of Islam. According to an AFP tally, attacks blamed on militant bombers have killed more than 5,000 people in Pakistan since government troops raided a mosque (Lal Masjid) in the capital Islamabad five years ago. Pakistan says 35,000 people have been killed by terrorism in the country since the start of the US-led war on al Qaeda after the 9/11 attacks on the United States.

Opinion

Editorial

Business concerns
Updated 26 Apr, 2024

Business concerns

There is no doubt that these issues are impeding a positive business clime, which is required to boost private investment and economic growth.
Musical chairs
26 Apr, 2024

Musical chairs

THE petitioners are quite helpless. Yet again, they are being expected to wait while the bench supposed to hear...
Global arms race
26 Apr, 2024

Global arms race

THE figure is staggering. According to the annual report of Sweden-based think tank Stockholm International Peace...
Digital growth
Updated 25 Apr, 2024

Digital growth

Democratising digital development will catalyse a rapid, if not immediate, improvement in human development indicators for the underserved segments of the Pakistani citizenry.
Nikah rights
25 Apr, 2024

Nikah rights

THE Supreme Court recently delivered a judgement championing the rights of women within a marriage. The ruling...
Campus crackdowns
25 Apr, 2024

Campus crackdowns

WHILE most Western governments have either been gladly facilitating Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza, or meekly...