Martyred BAP candidate Siraj Raisani laid to rest in Mastung

Dunya News

The blast is latest in a string of attacks that have spurred fears of violence ahead of elections

QUETTA (Dunya News) – Nawabzada Siraj Raisani, younger brother of former Balochistan chief minister Aslam Raisai, who was martyred in Friday’s suicide blast which left 131 people dead and dozens others wounded was laid to rest in his ancestral area of Kanak in Mastung.

The slain BAP leader’s funeral prayers took place at 4.30 pm on Saturday at Ayub stadium, Quetta.

Chief of Army Stadium General Qamar Javed Bajwa, Commander Southern Command Lt Gen Asim Bajwa, high-ranking Army officials, Balochistan Caretaker Chief Minister Allauddin Mari, provincial ministers, Nawab Aslam Raisani and Nawabzada Lashkari Raisani were among hundreds of people who attended the funeral prayer of Nawabzada Siraj Raisani.

Later he was buried at his ancestral village Kanak in Mastung district.

Mastung Sadr police have also registered a case of the suicide blast on the complaint of naib tehsildar. The case has been registered against unknown people under the ATA.

Earlier, in Balochistan the funeral prayers of 128 martyrs were offered in their ancestral areas of Mustung district. Later they were buried in their ancestral graveyards.

Read Also: Mastung, Bannu blasts: PM announces day of mourning on Sunday

On Friday, a suicide blast ripped through a crowd at a political rally in Mastung on Friday, killing 131 including younger brother of former Balochistan chief minister Aslam Raisani and Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) candidate, Nawabzada Siraj Raisani.

The blast is the latest in a string of attacks that have spurred fears of violence ahead of nationwide polls on July 25. Authorities said the suicide bomber detonated in the middle of a compound where the political meeting was taking place.

Read Also: Death toll in Mastung blast escalates to 131

Emergency workers also shuttled victims in ambulances as bystanders sobbed in the darkness due to the lack of electricity in the impoverished area.

Survivors in blood-smeared clothes were taken to hospitals in Mastung and nearby Quetta, where they were greeted by tense crowds of mourners. The deceased could be seen covered in shrouds.

Know More: Pakistanis mourn after election rally bombing kills 131

The attack was the most lethal since Taliban militants assaulted a school in the northwestern city of Peshawar in 2014, killing over 150 people, mostly children, and one of the deadliest in Pakistan’s long struggle with militancy.

Meanwhile, the caretaker government had announced to observe one-day official mourning tomorrow (Sunday) throughout the country in view of recent terrorist attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.

The announcement to this effect was made by Prime Minister Nasirul Mulk in Islamabad today with the aim to also express grief and solidarity with the victim families. The prime minister office has also directed the interior ministry to formally issue a notification in this regard.

Balochistan government has also announced two-day mourning in the province over the tragic suicide bomb blast in Mastung on Friday, in which one hundred twenty-eight people were martyred and around two hundred others injured.