Twin blasts in Karachi city of Pakistan kill 25

Two bomb blasts in Karachi City of Pakistan on Friday killed 25 people while wounded over 100.

The first blast targeted a bus carrying Shiite Muslim worshippers, most of them women and children when a motorcycle rigged with explosives rammed into the bus near the Nursery bridge.

“Twelve people were martyred and 50 injured in the first blast.

There are children and women among the killed and wounded,” Dr. Seemin Jamali, Head of the Emergency Department at Jinnah Hospital in Karachi, said.

City police Chief Waseem Ahmad told media that the motorcycle was rigged with an improvised-explosive device (IED). It remained unclear whether the motorcycle was being driven by anyone when it struck the bus.

The second explosion occurred inside Jinnah Hospital that left at least 13 people dead.

The hospital was packed with victims of the first blast and their relatives when the second bomb exploded outside the entrance to the emergency ward.

Provincial health minister Dr. Sagheer Ahmad said 13 people succumbed to bomb blast.

The building of the hospital and three ambulances were also damaged by the blast, which took place ten meters away from the main gate.

Another bomb was found inside a television outside Jinnah Hospital in the parking lot which was later defused, said bomb disposal squad official Munir Sheikh.

The bomb disposal squad said that 25 kg of explosives were found inside the television.

The Shiites were observing the Chehlum (40th mourning day of dead) of Imam Hussain (RA) grandson of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

In late December, a bomb in the southern the same city killed 44 Shiites attending a procession to mark Ashura, the anniversary of the death of Imam Hussein, sparking deadly riots. Friday's blasts coincided with Arbaeen, the final day of the annual 40-day mourning period for Hussein.

The city is tenses for the last one month due to target killings mainly linked to political victimization from all sides. And Friday’s bombing seems to be aimed at further deteriorating the situation in the economic hub of Pakistan which could lead to worst damage to Pakistani economy.

- Asian Tribune -