A pall of gloom hung over Mastung town and neighbouring areas in Pakistan's Balochistan province as the victims of Friday's suicide attack were laid to rest.
“We are busy with funerals,” said Atta Ul Munim, the assistant police commissioner in Mastung. “Several bodies were sent to their native places outside Mastung city soon after the bombing yesterday.”
The Counter Terrorism Department has registered a case of suicide bombing and collected evidence from the blast scene, including body parts of the bomber for DNA testing, Muhammad Azam, the information duty officer with Mastung District Police, told The National.
In Mastung, people kept their businesses closed to mourn the victims. In other parts of Pakistan, there were demonstrations protesting against the attacks.
While no one has claimed responsibility for the attack in Mastung, militant group ISIS appears to be behind it, a security official told The National, requesting anonymity as he wasn't authorised to speak to the media.
ISIS carried out an attack days earlier in the same area after one of its commanders was killed there.
More than 59 people died and at least 70 were wounded on Friday in two bombing attacks in Pakistan, as crowds marked the birthday of the Prophet Mohammed.
Shortly after the first blast at the gathering in Mastung, another explosion rocked a mosque in Hangu, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, killing at least 5 people.
Muhammad Muavia, 13, witnessed the bombing in Mastung, and told The National: “I couldn't sleep the entire night.”
“My home is situated away from where the explosion occurred, but I had come to play cricket with my friends close to the rally venue when the incident happened.”
Mr Ul Munim said the condition of many victims remains critical.
The district police officer narrowly escaped the attack, having arrived at the venue to inspect arrangements for the event just moments before the explosion.
“There was no prior threat, and a day before the event, elders of the Ahle Sunnat sect met with the district administration authorities regarding arrangements for their public meeting,” he added.
The government may announce compensation for the victims, he said.
Kabir Ahmed, a 27-year-old student at Balochistan University, told The National that he rushed to the venue soon after the bombing.
“We took my cousin, who was injured, to the hospital in Mastung, but there wasn't any place to stand, let alone treat him. We then left for Quetta to find a hospital but my cousin died on the way,” Ahmed said.
Mir Ali Mardan Domki, the caretaker chief minister of Baluchistan province, said all indications from the investigation suggest the attack was a suicide bombing.
Counter-terrorism investigators were working to reach conclusions that would be shared with the nation soon, he said.
The government plans to transfer critically wounded patients to Karachi for better treatment, and everyone injured and the families of the people killed will receive financial compensation, he said.
In the city of Lahore, members of Majlis-e-Ulema Nizamia, a religious body, gathered in front of a press club to condemn the bombing. Addressing the crowd, Maulana Abdus Sattar Saeedi demanded that the government move quickly against those involved in the attacks in Mastung and Hangu.
President Arif Alvi, Prime Minister Anwar-ul-Haq Kakar, Cabinet ministers, former lawmakers, heads of political parties, social and religious groups, and members of civil society also widely condemned the bombing and loss of precious lives.
Balochistan has suffered from separatist violence at the hands of Baloch insurgents, but the attacks carried out by the Pakistan Taliban underscore the mounting challenges facing Pakistan's army in the region.
The province has suffered intense violence in recent years between the government and the Pakistan Taliban.
On Friday, though, the Pakistan Taliban, formally known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, denied involvement in the attacks.
“The loss of innocent lives in the blast in Mastung is deeply saddening,” said Muhammad Khurasani, a spokesman for the Pakistan Taliban.
Following the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, ISIS lost ground and many of its fighters joined the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, which is already fighting the Pakistani government.
Pakistan was a major base of operations for the Afghan resistance against the Soviet Union, and militant networks have endured for decades in the country despite numerous military operations to oust them, starting in 2007 when the Pakistani Taliban came into existence.
With agency reports
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Another way to earn air miles
In addition to the Emirates and Etihad programmes, there is the Air Miles Middle East card, which offers members the ability to choose any airline, has no black-out dates and no restrictions on seat availability. Air Miles is linked up to HSBC credit cards and can also be earned through retail partners such as Spinneys, Sharaf DG and The Toy Store.
An Emirates Dubai-London round-trip ticket costs 180,000 miles on the Air Miles website. But customers earn these ‘miles’ at a much faster rate than airline miles. Adidas offers two air miles per Dh1 spent. Air Miles has partnerships with websites as well, so booking.com and agoda.com offer three miles per Dh1 spent.
“If you use your HSBC credit card when shopping at our partners, you are able to earn Air Miles twice which will mean you can get that flight reward faster and for less spend,” says Paul Lacey, the managing director for Europe, Middle East and India for Aimia, which owns and operates Air Miles Middle East.
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
MATCH INFO
What: 2006 World Cup quarter-final
When: July 1
Where: Gelsenkirchen Stadium, Gelsenkirchen, Germany
Result:
England 0 Portugal 0
(Portugal win 3-1 on penalties)
COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: SimpliFi
Started: August 2021
Founder: Ali Sattar
Based: UAE
Industry: Finance, technology
Investors: 4DX, Rally Cap, Raed, Global Founders, Sukna and individuals
Company%20profile
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KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Zayed Sustainability Prize
COMPANY%20PROFILE%3A
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Pad Man
Dir: R Balki
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Sonam Kapoor, Radhika Apte
Three-and-a-half stars
HOW TO WATCH
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Teaching in coronavirus times
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Fixtures (all in UAE time)
Friday
Everton v Burnley 11pm
Saturday
Bournemouth v Tottenham Hotspur 3.30pm
West Ham United v Southampton 6pm
Wolves v Fulham 6pm
Cardiff City v Crystal Palace 8.30pm
Newcastle United v Liverpool 10.45pm
Sunday
Chelsea v Watford 5pm
Huddersfield v Manchester United 5pm
Arsenal v Brighton 7.30pm
Monday
Manchester City v Leicester City 11pm
BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh650,000
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
