Thaindian News

Islamabad, Aug 31 (IANS) At least 10 people were killed and 25 wounded in a massive suicide bombing at a parking lot of a mosque in Quetta city Wednesday, a day when the country celebrated Eid.

The deafening blast took place at about 9.50 a.m. Wednesday at the parking lot of the mosque on Gulistan road in Quetta.

A suicide bomber driving an explosives-laden car blew himself up, reported Xinhua citing a TV channel.

At least 14 cars were destroyed following the huge blast and nearby buildings were partially damaged.

Most of the people killed or injured in the blast were those who came to the mosque to offer Eid prayers, said police sources.

The dead included a woman and a girl.

Ahsan Mehboob, a senior police officer, was quoted as saying that it was a suicide blast.

Bomb disposal experts said that an estimated 40 kg of explosives were used in the attack.

No group has as yet claimed the responsibility for the blast.

This is the first blast reported in Pakistan at the beginning of Eid.

On Tuesday morning, two suicide bombers riding a motorcycle died when their motorcycle slipped in Karachi.

A couple of days ago, police seized two trucks carrying some 2,000 kg of explosives in the country’s central city of Dera Ghazi Khan. The four suspected terrorists confessed that they were on their way to Balochistan to carry out bomb attacks.

The Quetta blast took place on a day when Eid-ul-Fitr was celebrated Wednesday across the country with great religious zeal and fervour at the end of the fasting month of Ramadan.

The country began the celebrations after the Central Ruet-i-Hilal Committee announced Tuesday that the Shawwal moon had been sighted, reported Dawn.

Eid was celebrated a day earlier in areas bordering Afghanistan.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Amir Haider Khan Hoti and his cabinet colleagues celebrated Eid in accordance with an announcement by the local unofficial moon sighting committee.