January 2013 Pakistan bombings

January 2013 Pakistan bombings
Location	Quetta and Swat District, Pakistan
Date	10 January 2013 (2013-01-10)
Attack type	Bombing
Deaths	125
Injured	At least 270
Perpetrator	Lashkar-e-Jhangvi United Baloch Army

On 10 January 2013, several bombings took place in the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta and in the northern Swat Valley, killing a total of 125 people and injuring at least 270.

Background

Further information: List of terrorist incidents in Pakistan since 2001

Since the government seizure of Lal Masjid outside the national capital of Islamabad, there has been a growing insurgency with the Islamist Pakistani Taliban and others in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, bordering and resultant from Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Additionally, separatism in Balochistan, predominantly by the Balochistan Liberation Army, has been ongoing prior to this period; while there has also been deadly sectarianism in Pakistan.

Bombings

Quetta

Three bombs exploded in the city of Quetta, one early in the day and two in the evening. The first bomb, which went off in the city's commercial district near a public plaza and crowded food markets, killed twelve people and injured 47; a Baluch separatist group, the United Baloch Army, claimed responsibility. Police official Hamid Shakil said that "Frontier Corps personnel were the target because the bomb was planted underneath their vehicle," though mostly civilians were killed.

The deadlier attack came later in the day, when a suicide bomber blew himself up inside a snooker hall at about 8:50 pm, followed about ten minutes later by a car bombing outside the building after police and media personnel had arrived at the scene. Eighty-one people were killed in the two bombings, with at least 170 more injured. At least three more died at hospitals after the bombings, bringing the total death toll to 84. By mid-day on 11 January, the death toll had risen to 92. In addition to those at the hall at the time of the first bombing, nine policemen, 25 rescue workers and three journalists who had arrived at the scene were killed in the second blast. According to local bomb disposal officials, the suicide bomb had up to 7 kilograms (15 lb) of explosives, while the car bomb had about 100 kilograms (220 lb). The hall was completely destroyed, and surrounding buildings were damaged in the blasts, which also destroyed power lines, causing blackouts in the surrounding area.

Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, a Sunni militant group, claimed responsibility for this attack. A government official said that the bombings were likely Lashkar-e-Jhangvi's retaliation for the shooting of a Sunni cleric and the capture of weapons from a site believed to be controlled by the group, both of which had occurred the day before. The Balochistan provincial government said that it would pay two million rupees to the family of each policeman killed, while families of the others killed would receive one million rupees. Three days of mourning were announced for Balochistan in response to the bombings.

Protests in Quetta by the city's Shia Muslim community erupted the day after the bombings, with protesters and local Shia officials refusing to bury those killed until the Pakistani army took over control of security in the city. Shias in Karachi also staged protests.

Journalists killed in the attack

The bombing was responsible for the first deaths of journalists in Pakistan in 2013. Pakistan has ranked among the deadliest of countries for journalists over the past several years, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Three journalists were killed and at least two other journalists were seriously injured by the second blast in Quetta. Two were from from SAMAA TV. Imran Sheikh had been a camera operator at SAMAA TV for 5 years, and he was the third camera operator for the channel who was killed while covering a terrorist bombing incident. Saifur Rehman was a reporter for SAMAA TV. Also killed in the attack was Iqbal Hussain, who was a journalist from the news agency News Network International. Rehman initially survived the blast but died later at a hospital from his injuries, while the other two died on site. At least two other journalists suffered from more than minor injuries, including Jameel Ahmed, the engineer for SAMAA TV, and Mohammad Hasan, a photojournalist for Independent News Pakistan.

Swat Valley

An explosion in a Tableeghi Jamaat seminary in the Swat Valley, outside of Saidu Sharif, killed 22 people, with 60 injured. The explosion was initially reported to be the result of a gas leak in the building's basement, but police and medical officials said it had likely been a bomb—doctors said that victims had been injured by ball bearings, often used in bombs, and a "smell of explosives" was present, according to a doctor at the site of the explosion.