QUETTA: Pakistan has suspended the movement of buses carrying Shia pilgrims on the Quetta-Taftan Highway in Balochistan’s troubled Mastung district due to security concerns, a foreign news agency quoting a senior provincial government official reported on Friday.
The move came a couple of days after a bus carrying Shia pilgrims was coming from Iran to Quetta via Taftan but as reached in Dringhar area of Mastung, a powerful explosion occurred near the bus that left at least 29 persons killed and more than 50 injured. The banned militant outfit Lashkar-e-Jhangvi claimed responsibility of the blast.
“We have temporarily suspended the movement of buses on the highway until the security situation improves,” the official said.
Meanwhile, more than 300 Shia pilgrims reached in Dalbandin town of Balochistan from Iran on Friday.
The assistant commissioner Razzaq Sasoli said that 150 Shia pilgrims were transported to Quetta in a C-130 plane, while remaining persons would be transported on Saturday. He added that those left in Dalbandin were kept under tight security.
