Pakistan’s Friday terror attack death toll rises to 73
The death toll from multiple shooting and bomb blasts in Pakistan’s Parachinar has risen to 73 after several victims succumbed to their wounds.
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Officials confirmed the death toll on Saturday, saying the number of the dead in Parachinar climbed to 55 overnight.
Sabir Hussain, an official at a government-run hospital in Parachinar, said they had received 261 victims of the twin blasts, 62 of whom in critical condition.
The blasts took place three minutes from each other. Most of those killed were Muslims buying food for iftar, the meal that marks the end of daily fasting in the holy month of Ramadan.
The Lashkar-e-Jhangvi Takfiri group has claimed responsibility for the Friday twin bombings.
Separately on Friday, four police officers were killed while observing iftar at a roadside restaurant in the port city of Karachi after unknown gunmen opened fire.
Pakistani police officials have linked the attacks to alleged militant sanctuaries in Afghanistan and pledged to enhance border security.
Earlier on Friday, at least 14 people were killed and 20 others wounded in a bomb attack targeting a police vehicle near the office of the provincial police chief in the southwestern city of Quetta.
The explosion was heard across the city and shattered the windows of nearby buildings.
The Daesh Takfiri terrorists and Jamaat-ur-Ahrar, a splinter group of the Pakistani Taliban, claimed the attack in Quetta in messages sent to the media. The two terror groups have a history of jointly claiming such attacks.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif condemned the attacks and ordered extra security ahead of Eid al-Fitr holiday that marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadan.
Before dawn Saturday, security forces raided a militant hideout in the northwestern city of Peshawar, killing three militants.
Police said the militants were making bombs that would have probably been used in attacks on holiday festivities.
The identity of the slain militants is unknown, but security officials said one of them has been identified as a wanted Daesh commander.
Pakistan is in the middle of a widening military operation to oust militants from key areas. Attacks such as those that took place on Friday have increased in response to the Pakistani military’s crackdown.
