Terrorist bombing hits Hazara market in Pakistan’s Quetta

At least 20 people have been killed in an attack targeting the minority Hazara Shia Muslim community in Pakistan’s southwestern city of Quetta.

At least 20 people have been killed in an attack targeting the minority Hazara Shia Muslim community in Pakistan’s southwestern city of Quetta.

An additional 48 people were wounded in the Friday blast which occurred in the capital of the country’s restive Baluchistan province.

The bomb was hidden among bags of potatoes at a vegetable market on the outskirts of the city.

The Lashkar-e-Jhangvi terrorist group, which has targeted the Hazara community in the past, claimed responsibility for the attack.

“We claim responsibility for the attack in Quetta,” said a spokesman for the group named Qari Saifullah, speaking to CNN.

“We targeted the Hazara community,” he stressed.         

The bombing came after a lull of at least a year in terrorist attacks, though there have been isolated shootings targeting the Hazaras.