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Musa Farman / EPA
Smoke billows from the scene of a bomb blast in Kirani road area of Quetta, the provincial capital of restive Balochistan province, Pakistan, 16 Febuary 2013.
Dozens of people including school children were killed Saturday in a bomb attack carried out by extremists from Pakistan's Sunni Muslim majority, police said.
A spokesman for Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, a Sunni group, claimed responsibility for the bomb, which caused casualties in Quetta's main bazaar, a school and a computer center. Police said most of the victims were Shiites.
Burned school bags and books were strewn around.
Early Sunday, a Pakistani police official said that the blast killed 81 people, with many of the critically injured dying overnight, The Associated Press reported.
"The explosion was caused by an improvised explosive device fitted to a motorcycle," said Wazir Khan Nasir, deputy inspector general of police in Quetta.
"This is a continuation of terrorism against Shiites."
"I saw many bodies of women and children," said an eyewitness at a hospital. "At least a dozen people were burned to death by the blast."
Most Western intelligence agencies have regarded the Pakistani Taliban and al Qaeda as the gravest threat to nuclear-armed Pakistan, a strategic U.S. ally.
But Pakistani law enforcement officials say Lashkar-e-Jhangvi has become a formidable force.
Tensions
Banaras Khan / AFP - Getty Images
Pakistani paramedics work over the dead bodies of bomb blast victims at a hospital in Quetta on February 16, 2013. A remote-controlled bomb targeting Shiite Muslims killed 47 people including women and children and wounded more than 200 in Pakistan's insurgency-hit southwest on Saturday, police and officials said. AFP PHOTO/Banaras KHANBANARAS KHAN/AFP/Getty Images
Last month the group said it carried out a bombing in Quetta that killed nearly 100 people, one of Pakistan's worst sectarian attacks. Thousands of Shi'ites protested in several cities after that attack.
Pakistani intelligence officials say extremist groups, led by Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, have escalated their bombings and shootings of Shiites to trigger violence that would pave the way for a Sunni theocracy in U.S.-allied Pakistan.
More than 400 Shiites were killed in Pakistan last year, many by hitmen or bombs, and the perpetrators are almost never caught. Some hardline Shi'ite groups have hit back by killing Sunni clerics.
The growing sectarian violence has hurt the credibility of the government, which has already faced criticism ahead of elections due in May for its inability to tackle corruption and economic stagnation.
The schism between Sunnis and Shiites developed after the Prophet Muhammad died in 632 when his followers could not agree on a successor.
Emotions over the issue are highly potent even today, pushing some countries, including Iraq five years ago, to the brink of civil war.
Pakistan is nowhere near that stage but officials worry that Sunni extremist groups have succeeded in dramatically ratcheting up tensions and provoking revenge attacks in their bid to destabilize the country.
Sixty-four people including school children died on Saturday in a bomb attack carried out by extremists from Pakistan's Sunni Muslim majority. NBC's Lester Holt reports.
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Pakistan still claims to know where all the terrorists are in their country, yet this stuff still happens. It is totally possible that Ayman Al Zawahiri, the remaining Al-Qaida master terrorist, is hiding right under the noses of the Paki military and police, just like Osama Bin Laden. The Pakis still hole planned 'outrage parties' every time the US supposedly uses a drone to kill terrorists there, yet you never hear anything about any outrage when the Pakis kill each other like this.
Sadly, it has now become a 'good' day when any Paki bites the dust . . . and as a nation they have done it all to themselves. As Salman Rushdie says, "Pakistan is a failed state" and is quickly becoming a terrorist state.
Yep, it is sad when innocents die anywhere but we all know karma is a beach and it's pretty tough to shed tears when they reap a little of what they've sown.
Leave them alone
Secure their nukes and pull out our forces from the region
Stop the aid
Give them 12 months they will take care of themselves !
Problem solved...
The religion of love and peace strikes again. I'm really surprised Pakistan hasn't blamed America for this bombing yet. I mean why not, they blame us for their own ignorance and hate everyday.......... We must bring our people home ASAP and let these barbarians kill each other.
Muslim on Muslim violence. It's happening all over the world. Pretty soon the Arabs/Muslims will be killing each other in Detroit. Additionally, wasn't Bluto (see #2.1 below) the fat Arab moron who tried to mess with Popeye all those years? Blutopie, why are you and your Muslim Brohood so messed up?
If the Sunni will do this to the Shiites, when they both revere Muhammad and worship Allah, just think what they'll do to anyone who doesn't.
They will never cease their violence unless stopped by violence.
Those people are all nuts.
This is a country that has nuclear capabilities, and their children are being blown up at the market by crazy people.
Thank God we live in America, where our children are only shot in cold blood by crazy people.
The world should just let these buffoons use their Nukes inside Pakistani markets.
C'mon Achmed the terrorists, why use IEDs when you could use nukes on the market...
IEDs are not taking anybody to meet the virgins...Nukes will, and by the way, when detonating those Nukes, make sure you have marshmallows handy; virgins love those treats
"A spokesman for Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, a Sunni group, claimed responsibility for the bomb, which caused casualties in Quetta's main bazaar, a school and a computer center. Police said most of the victims were Shiites."
Against non-Muslims they (Shiites, Sunnis, Sufis, Ahmedias and all tribes) all joined together since the formation of Pakistan, a pure Islamic nation, in 1947!
What goes around comes around!
A pity they only know how to kill so few at a time...why do we have troops in that part of the world...has Obama started a war he doesn't know how to run...the troops in that part of the world should have been back in the US by spring 2009...
Obama started a war? Revisionist history before the ink has even dried?
That said, yes he should have gotten us out of Afghanistan by now. By staying whether for months, years or decades, we accomplish nothing.
And why do we have troops in Europe? That war ended 60+ years ago.
I agree. Someone needs to help them make their bombs more potent. What they burst seem like fire crackers in comparison to the 1.2 billion waiting to meet 72 virgins each
Bushes (Sr and Jr) started Iraqi wars and Afghan war.
Obama is learning how to run from Iraq and Afghan.
In Libya, Obama thought al Qaida are friends like their promoters oil rich Sunni rulers of House of Saud and co!
In Libya, Hillary was slow in consulting Jewish lobbys, oil companies and their lobbyists.
Some (oil companies and their lobbyists) got diverted to Syria and dangerous Iranian nukes!
You see: Hillary and other politicians need to have money war chest for 2016 elections.
Don't be surprised if some ask: where is Libya?
Looks like the patently demented paramilitary Satanic cult of death, destruction, and hate called "Islam" is making its usual effort to takeover the headlines again, really . . .
Really! :-o
P. S. Just remember that we blew off half of Osama bin Laden's head, and we have plenty of General Atomics MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper aerial assault vehicles and Lockheed Martin AGM-114 Hellfire air-to-surface missiles with your Muslim cockroach names on them!
Please don't delay to reduce losses to the world!
What a bunch of sick wackos!
The U.S. should have nothing to do with Pakistan.
I'm glad Islam is a Peaceful loving Religion, just think if they weren't.
You got that spelling wrong. It is "PIECEFUL" for your kind information. ROTFFLMFBO.
So when does the Paki Government start complaining about this. At least we have never targeted a marketplace with a drone.
""I saw many bodies of women and children," said an eyewitness at a hospital. "At least a dozen people were burned to death by the blast.""
You see: this is Islamic drone attack with Allah written all over.
So everything is excused!
Dee Ten, just a small correction. Obama didn't start the war, it has been going on for 1500 years and was brought to all new levels when President Bush went into Iraq in 2003. You know to remove Saddam and all of those pesky WMD's he had. Alas, you are probably one of the nearly 70% of Americans that think Saddam Hussein was behind the 9/11 attacks.
And it's not even Friday. For long Pakistan has reared terrorists with the understanding that as long as they kills jews, hindus and westerners they are safe in pakistan. I guess 'I told you so' is in order.
I love Hillary Clinton's comment about rearing snakes to bite the neighbors. Now that they are biting their own asses I hope they realize what a terrible nuisance they can be.
Another day, another horrendous atrocity. If this is what Moslems do to each other, imagine what they'll do to us. The good people and decent nations of the world must defeat radical Islam if we want to preserve civilization.
Oh, but it's racist to advocate preserving your own culture!
Don't worry, we'll watch Europe dissolve into chaos in another generation or two.
What will they do to us? Why, convert or kill, generally; if we are somewhat lucky we'll get to 'live' as 'dhimmis'.
Look that term up.
Motorcycles are cheaper than drones.
and muslims are cheaper than hellfire missiles
hmmm ---- seems like it wasn't that long ago when someone said the terrorists were on the run, that we had nothing to fear from them any longer. ----------------- i find it intriguing that some people actually think you can end something like this simply by eliminating a few of the leaders. ---- i don't think they comprehend just how dedicated these terrorists are.
The best way to tackle this problem is to let them piecefully self-destruct. Leave them to their own devices and they will pick the right device to finish each other and leave the rest of the world to move forward peacefully. Oh, how I love the religion of piece!
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Is there any way that we can get the newspapers to stop calling Pakistan a strong American ally.
We should just leave that corner of the world. As ar as their nukes are concerned, let India worry about that.
Maybe that's Al Queda's end-game; take over Pakistan, control their nukes and India and Pakistan wipe each other out. Al-Zawazany would think of something like that, figuring its Allah's will and somehow his side will win out of the ashes.
FTA, and from history:
"The schism between Sunnis and Shi'ites developed after the Prophet Muhammad died in 632 when his followers could not agree on a successor."
And there you have it folks! Another miracle of organized religion!
It's bacon for breakfast tomorrow for me.
i wonder if the prophet foresaw the problems that would exist after his death......... apparently not.
ronpal - I see what you did there!
I am not a Pakistani...but it is very sad. This is a country that has spent much of its time, talent and resources on attacking its poor neighbor that chose a more inclusive secular democracy (though not perfect). It has had a turbulent violent political history where more than 70% of its elected leaders have been assassinated, executed, over thrown by a coup, put on house arrest or sent on exile. Their leaders are arrogant and clueless...They still have not apologized for the terrorism that they unleashed on their neighbor. When Afghan leaders say "Pakistan extremists is more problematic than our Al Queda"...you can imagine! This is not a religious issue, as some brilliant Indian and Pakistani analyst have stated..."it is a political one". I wish them well, and when you think of children growing up in this day in and day out...it is all so sad.
Another confirmation that all organized religions should be thrown into the dustpan. between the Shiites, Sunnis, Jews, and Muslims, Protestants and lets not forget the Catholics, that also think their's is the only real religion, we are all better off without any.......
Kit, the voice of reason. Well said. In the Old Testament God's body count was about 2.8 million, he held the original record for genocide.
The Muslim's must kill each other as they are very short on infidels at the present time. when all else fails they just have to kill someone so, it's each other!
Market bomb attack kills 64 in Pakistan
Wow not THATS news !
Only sixty four. Very inefficient.
Nothing like Muslims killing each other. The sooner we are out of there the better and stop all the aid. Let these places go back to the septic tanks they always have been.
If those freaking Muslims would build a better bomb, they could have killed a couple of hundred. Nope, just some misfits wanting to prove they could do make a little bang. How brave those camel jockeys are, don't dare to go face to face with a person.
Then those same people complain when the US uses a drone to off some of them. What a bunch of freaking idiots, almost comical, except people got killed. That is not comical at all.
Along with global warming, religious fascism is the greatest threat which our emerging human world faces now today. I have been desperately trying to tell everyone (for over 13 years now) that all three of these competing Abrahamic "End Time" religious belief systems (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) were covertly designed and installed in a serial way by outside offensive totalitarian ETs, who repeatedly masqueraded as Divinity toward mankind in the process of covertly installing them into our emerging human world.
These Abrahamic religions are all highly virulent and mutagenic Human Software Viruses (HSVs), and they are also biocybernetic warfare components of a larger ET designed PWMD (or Program Weapon of Mass Destruction), which in turn has been designed by these outside offensive totalitarian ETs to eventually crash and explode our emerging human world in a final programmed cataclysm of global warfare fueled with WMDs, known as the Christian Apocalypse or World War III.
These offensive ETs are hoping to use their (now) eminent domain rights of military intervention in our sector of the Milky Way galaxy to move in on our emerging human world and take it over, on the heels of the future programmed Christian Apocalypse or World War III, while once more masquerading as Divinity toward mankind, this time as the returning Christ or Messiah (or Mahdi, whichever the case may be).
The ultimate goal of these regional domain ETs which threaten our world is to eventually steal and annex our extremely valuable celestial real estate, and also render mankind extinct here on Earth, after supposedly trying for a thousand intervening years following their military intervention to salvage or redeem mankind from their "hopelessly violent ways".
These outside offensive totalitarian ETs were forced to take this covert approach at territorial conquest in our Milky Way galaxy, which in turn relies upon their eminent domain rights of military intervention in our sector of the Milky Way galaxy, because there are Free Galaxy powers which reside elsewhere in our Milky Way galaxy, who currently stand in the way of overt military conquest on a stellar level. These totalitarian ETs (who are a 'cultural singularity' under the control of an advanced but delusional ET/AI system) are eventually hoping to use our precious world and solar system as a future stepping stone to further galactic conquest (do you hear me, FGPs and UFPs?).
I know all of this, because I personally lived at Wright Patterson Air Force base from 1951 to 1953, while my grandfather (Colonel Charles Faulkner Carter) was second in command there, and he was personally involved in the background investigation into the Roswell Incident of 1947. The real "Gospel" or "Good News" is that mankind potentially has countless millions (even billions) of years of growth, development and expansion ahead of them, so long was they don't fall for these ET designed and installed terminal religious "End Time" belief systems. Please listen, mankind, before it is too late for you here on Earth! - Rick Carter
PS - I am also former U.S. Army Special Forces (Green Beret), 6th Group (Psyops) & 5th Group, top "Go Team", Ft. Bragg, N.C., ETS from active duty 1972. Please know ahead of time that I would not lie to the world about any of this. Thank you!
PS - Thank you, Colin Stevenson, God love you (and the U.K.) truly forever! - RC
Now, if you all will kindly pardon me, I really NEED to go back and touch base with Jodie Foster (via "Contact") (Are you listening, FGPs & UFPs ???) Have a good "nighty-nite", everyone! Sleep tight (or not, seeing as how it is the weekend). Smooch! - RC
The essence of ignorance is to have supreme confidence in your own ideas. The essence of cowardice is to harm others weaker than yourself in furtherance of your own ideas. No group of individuals ever has an identical interpretation of anything from a shopping list to the true faith. So when you are through killing all those who you can identify as being different, what do you do? Use the rack to ferret out more of the "unfaithful" as during the Spanish Inquisition. But since no to people ever see things the same way, you have to go on killing until no one is left but yourself.
So, what happens when they get hold of nuclear weapons? Revelation 18- AND after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.