The government of Pakistan vowed to find those responsible for a deadly explosion at a mosque at Mastung in Balochistan on Saturday, accusing India’s intelligence agency Research & Analysis Wing (RAW) of being involved in the attack.
The death toll in the Mastung blast has risen to 59 as seven more people have reportedly died in hospital. Officials informed the media that several more people are undergoing treatment in critical condition.
Pakistan minister blames India
A suicide bomber detonated his explosives near a police car where people were gathered for a procession to honour the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad on Friday, blowing up a mosque in Mastung in the southern Balochistan province.
Pakistani officials have long asserted that India funds militant groups in Pakistan, a claim that India has consistently refuted.
“Civil, military and all other institutions will jointly strike against the elements involved in the Mastung suicide bombing,” interior minister Sarfaraz Bugti told media in Balochistan’s capital, Quetta.
“RAW is involved in the suicide attack,” he added.
However, the minister failed to provide details or evidence to support his allegations against India and its intelligence agency RAW.
Wasim Baig, the spokesman for Balochistan’s health department, stated that the increase in the death toll was due to seven additional patients passing away in hospitals since Friday. He also noted that additional patients continued to be in critical condition.
Suicide attack in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
At least five people were killed in a second attack that took place at a mosque in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Friday.
Police said they had sent the suicide bomber’s DNA for analysis in a report they filed on Saturday to start an inquiry.
Pakistan Taliban denies responsibility
For either attack, no group has claimed responsibility. In the lead-up to the national election in January, a rise in militant assaults in Pakistan’s western provinces has cast a shadow over election preparations and open campaigning, although up until this point, the attacks have primarily targeted security forces.
The Pakistani Taliban (TTP), who have carried out some of the deadliest assaults in Pakistan since the organization’s founding in 2007, denied being behind the explosions on Friday.
