Two separate bomb blasts in different parts of Pakistan on Sunday killed a total of at least 47 people and wounded more than 90 others, authorities said.
The attacks are the latest in a series of violent acts that have struck Pakistan in recent weeks, underscoring the daunting challenges faced by security forces and the new government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
The deadlier of the two explosions Sunday hit Hazara Town, a Shiite Muslim district on the outskirts of the southwestern city of Quetta. A suicide bomber blew himself up, killing at least 30 people and wounding 50 others, police said.
Hazara Town gets its name from the Hazaras, a Shiite minority from neighboring Afghanistan many of whom have settled in and around Quetta. Hundreds of Shiites, including many Hazaras, have been killed in bloody attacks over the past year and a half by extremist groups in Pakistan, a predominantly Sunni Muslim country.
Human rights groups have criticised the failure of authorities to clamp down on Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, a Sunni organisation that has admitted carrying out much of the violence against Shiites.
The Punch