Blasts, shootings claim 54 lives across Pakistan

Separate bomb blasts and shootings in the west, east and south of Pakistan have killed a total of 54 people as militants step up attacks on police and security forces in an apparent response to government offensives to push them out from key bastions.

At least 37 people were killed in two separate blasts on Friday that targeted shoppers in a busy market in the northeastern city of Parachinar, AFP quoted senior Pakistani official Basir Khan Wazir as saying.

Some 150 people were also wounded in the attacks, which took place three minutes from each other. Most of those killed were Muslims buying food for iftar, the meal that marks the end of their daily fasting in the holy month of Ramadan.

There was no claim of responsibility for the attacks in Parachinar, a city which lies just near the border with Afghanistan.

That was not the only incident targeting Muslims in Pakistan on Friday as four police officers were shot dead while observing iftar in Karachi, Pakistan`s largest city and financial capital.

Also on Friday, 13 people were killed in a car bomb blast in the southwestern city of Quetta, a key city in Balochistan province. Seven police officers were killed in the attack after they stopped the explosive-laden vehicle to search it at a checkpoint.

Wasim Baig, a spokesman for the Civil Hospital in Quetta, said 19 people were also wounded in the attack. Other officials said nine security officials were among the wounded.

The Daesh Takfiri terrorists and Jamaat ur Ahrar, a splinter group of the Pakistani Taliban, claimed the attack in Quetta in messages sent to the media. The two terror groups have a history of jointly claiming such attacks.

Source: Agencies