12 Killed, Dozens Wounded in Bomb Attacks Across Pakistan

Date: 15 March 2015 - 20:45

News ID: ۱۲۰۷۲

ISLAMABAD (AFP) – Three bomb attacks have taken place across Pakistan, leaving at least 12 people dead and dozens of others injured.
In the first attack, which was carried out in a crowded marketplace in the Orangi Town neighborhood of Karachi on Saturday night, at least two people lost their lives and 12 others sustained injures.
"The bomb was planted in a cement block. Those killed and wounded were civilians, the injured included two children,” Ali Asif, a senior police official said.
He added that two motorcycles were destroyed in the bomb attack which also damaged "several nearby shops.”
According to a bomb disposal expert in the city, over a kilogram of explosives was used in the bomb.
Criminal, ethnic, political and sectarian killings are rampant in Karachi, which is home to 18 million people. Hundreds of people lose their lives each year in the city’s violence.
Meanwhile, separately in Lahore, twin blasts near two churches in a Christian neighborhood of the city killed at least 10 people and injured nearly 50 others on Sunday.
According to police spokeswoman Nabeela Ghazanfar, the deadly explosions hit Youhanabad area, where over 100,000 Christians live.
She added that a state of emergency has been declared in all the city’s hospitals.
Pro-Taliban militants have claimed responsibility for the Lahore bombings.
Following the attacks, hundreds of Christians took to the streets to slam the police. In a statement carried by state media, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif  "condemned the Lahore blasts and directed provincial governments to ensure the security of public and their properties.”
Thousands of Pakistanis and Afghans have lost their lives in bombings and other militant attacks since 2001, when the United States started its so-called war against terrorism in the respective nations.