Quetta in Pakistan suicide attacks kill 24, schools hit

(September 08, 2011) Two suicide bombs killed at least 24 and wounded 82 on Wednesday near the commissioner’s office in Quetta, Pakistan. The blasts also shattered windows in the nearby residence of Oblate Bishop Victor Gnanapragasam, vicariate office of Caritas Pakistan, and three Catholic schools. The roof of the computer laboratory of St Francis Grammar high school also caved in. The schools were closed immediately. The Pakistani Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attacks, to avenge the arrest of Younis al Mauritani, a senior al Qaeda leader, by Pakistani security forces in Quetta recently. “I had just taken the roll-call when the blast echoed; the children started crying and screaming. It’s an earthquake, they shouted”, said Uzma Tahmeen, a Catholic teacher. “I closed the door to avoid panic and waited till the parents arrived to collect the children,” she added. “When I stepped outside, I could see body parts lying inside a giant smoke tomb rising in the sky”. Oblate Father Cecil Paul felt the vibration of the blasts in his parish office, located about a kilometre from the targeted site. “Our country has reached the centre of instability now. Violence continues unendingly after the capture and killing of Osama bin Laden in the Northern Province.” he said. The priest also suggested a “biased” syllabus in madrassas (Islamic seminaries) was spreading sectarianism in the country.