Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) At least 20 people were killed and dozens injured when a bomb claimed by a Sunni Muslim militant group ripped through a fruit market in the Pakistani city of Quetta on Friday.

The attack hit the city's Hazarganji district, which is home to a large community from the Hazara Shia Muslim minority, Quetta's Deputy Inspector General of Police, Razzaq Cheema, told CNN.

At least seven Hazara were among the dead, along with one security official, Cheema said.

Family members of the blast victims comfort each other outside a mortuary in Quetta, Pakistan, after bomb went off at an open-air market in the southwestern city.

In a news conference, Ziaullah Langove, home minister for Balochistan, said it was a suicide attack, confirmed the death toll and added that as many as 48 people were injured.

Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, a Sunni militant group known to target the Hazara community, said it carried out the bombing.

Read More</s>ISLAMABAD (AP) - The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing at an open-air market in the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta a day earlier that killed twenty people.

The Sunni militant group, which has repeatedly targeted Pakistan's minority Shiites, said in a statement posted on an IS-affiliated website Saturday that it targeted Shiites and elements of the Pakistani army.

Police said a suicide bomber hit the market Friday, killing eight Shiites, a paramilitary soldier and others. Four paramilitary troops guarding the market were among the 40 wounded.

Protests by dozens of angry Shiite youth from the Hazara community continued Saturday in Quetta for a second day, demanding greater security protection. The community has been targeted many times in recent years by Sunni militant groups.

Pakistani Shiite youth from Hazara community burn tires to block a main road during a protest to condemn Friday's suicide bombing, in Quetta, Pakistan, Saturday, April 13, 2019. A suicide bomber targeted an open-air market in the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta on Friday, killing many people and wounding dozens of others, police and hospital officials said. (AP Photo/Arshad Butt)

Pakistani Shiite families from Hazara community chant slogans during a sit-in protest to condemn Friday's suicide bombing, in Quetta, Pakistan, Saturday, April 13, 2019. A suicide bomber targeted an open-air market in the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta on Friday, killing many people and wounding dozens of others, police and hospital officials said. (AP Photo/Arshad Butt)</s>IS claims suicide bombing in Pakistan that killed 20

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing at an open-air market in the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta a day earlier that killed twenty people.

The Sunni militant group, which has repeatedly targeted Pakistan's minority Shiites, said in a statement posted on an IS-affiliated website Saturday that it targeted Shiites and elements of the Pakistani army.

Police said a suicide bomber hit the market Friday, killing eight Shiites, a paramilitary soldier and others. Four paramilitary troops guarding the market were among the 40 wounded.

Protests by dozens of angry Shiite youth from the Hazara community continued Saturday in Quetta for a second day, demanding greater security protection. The community has been targeted many times in recent years by Sunni militant groups.</s>ISLAMABAD (AP) — The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing at an open-air market in the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta a day earlier that killed twenty people. The Sunni militant…

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing at an open-air market in the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta a day earlier that killed twenty people.

The Sunni militant group, which has repeatedly targeted Pakistan’s minority Shiites, said in a statement posted on an IS-affiliated website Saturday that it targeted Shiites and elements of the Pakistani army.

Police said a suicide bomber hit the market Friday, killing eight Shiites, a paramilitary soldier and others. Four paramilitary troops guarding the market were among the 40 wounded.

Protests by dozens of angry Shiite youth from the Hazara community continued Saturday in Quetta for a second day, demanding greater security protection. The community has been targeted many times in recent years by Sunni militant groups.

Copyright © 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.</s>The Islamic State Saturday claimed responsibility for a suicide attack that killed 21 people and wounded more than 50 others in Quetta, the provincial capital of Pakistan’s restive Balochistan province. A suicide bomber blew himself in the Hazarganj fruits and vegetable market in Quetta on Friday morning, in an attack believed to be targeting the minority Hazara Shia community.

The ISIS on Saturday released a photograph of the suicide attacker along with his name and said the attack targeted Shia Muslims, according to the Site Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadist activities. “The Islamic State’s Khorasan Province (ISKP) claimed killing and wounding 70 Hazara Shias and Pakistani soldiers in a suicide bombing in Quetta,” it said.

The Pakistani officials have repeatedly denied presence of the ISIS in the country, but the Middle Eastern terror group has claimed a number of attacks in the past. On Friday, a faction of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it collaborated with the banned Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ).

The LeJ is a Sunni militant group, which has claimed responsibility for several deadly attacks against the minority Shia community in Pakistan, including the 2013 blasts in Quetta that killed over 200 Hazara Shias.</s>Quetta, Pakistan (AP) — A suicide bomber targeted an open-air market in the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta on Friday, killing at least 20 people and wounding dozens of others, police and hospital officials said.

Shortly after the bombing, struck near a Shiite residential area, dozens of angry Shiite youths rallied in Quetta, demanding more security from the authorities and the arrest of those behind the attacks.

They also denounced the violence by Sunni extremists who have killed hundreds in similar attacks over the past years in Baluchistan province, where Quetta is the capital.

“It seems people from the (Shiite) Hazara community were the target,” said senior police chief Abdur Razzaq Cheema, adding that some of the victims were in critical condition.

Mir Ziaullah Langau, the provincial home minister, said the suicide bomber had walked up to the marketplace and killed both Shiites and Sunnis.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, which took place in the Hazarganji neighborhood, but Sunni militant groups have claimed similar bombings in the past against Shiites, whom they view as apostates deserving of death.

Cheema, the police chief said at least eight Shiites were among the dead, as well as a paramilitary soldier and seven other people. Four paramilitary troops, who were guarding the open-air fruit and vegetable market, were among the wounded.

Local TV footage showed several damaged shops and at least one paramilitary vehicle. A wounded man told reporters from his hospital bed how he had heard a loud explosion before he was struck down.

Qadir Nayil, a leader of the Hazara community, asked the government to provide better protection for the Shiites.

“Once again our people were the target and once again we will have to bury our dear ones,” he said. “We demand more security from the government and all those involved in today’s act of terrorism should be found and punished.”

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan and President Arif Alvi issued statements condemning the attack and adding that it would not weaken “the resolve of the nation in the fight against terrorism.”

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed shock at the Quetta attack and strongly condemned “this cowardly act,” U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. “The United Nations expresses its fully solidarity with the Government of Pakistan in its fight against terrorism and violent extremism,” Dujarric said.

Jam Kamal Khan, the chief minister of Baluchistan province, also condemned the attack, saying “the enemy of humanity” is to blame.

Hours after the attack in Quetta, a roadside bomb exploded outside a shop in the southwestern border town of Chama, killing one person and wounding 10 others, police and hospitals officials said.

Several militant groups operate in Baluchistan, which is also the scene of a low-level insurgency by separatists demanding more autonomy and a greater share in the region’s natural resources such as gas and oil.</s>QUETTA, Pakistan — A suicide bomber targeted an open-air market in the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta on Friday, killing at least 20 people and wounding dozens of others, police and hospital officials said.

Shortly after the bombing, struck near a Shiite residential area, dozens of angry Shiite youths rallied in Quetta, demanding more security from the authorities and the arrest of those behind the attacks.

They also denounced the violence by Sunni extremists who have killed hundreds in similar attacks over the past years in Baluchistan province, where Quetta is the capital.

“It seems people from the (Shiite) Hazara community were the target,” said senior police chief Abdur Razzaq Cheema.

Mir Ziaullah Langau, the provincial home minister, said the suicide bomber had walked up to the marketplace and killed both Shiites and Sunnis.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, which took place in the Hazarganji neighborhood, but Sunni militant groups have claimed similar bombings in the past against Shiites, whom they view as apostates deserving of death.

Cheema, the police chief, said at least eight Shiites were among the dead, as well as a paramilitary soldier and seven other people. Four paramilitary troops, who were guarding the open-air fruit and vegetable market, were among the wounded.

Qadir Nayil, a leader of the Hazara community, asked the government to provide better protection for the Shiites.

“Once again our people were the target and once again we will have to bury our dear ones,” he said. “We demand more security from the government and all those involved in today’s act of terrorism should be found and punished.”

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan and President Arif Alvi issued statements condemning the attack and adding that it would not weaken “the resolve of the nation in the fight against terrorism.”

Jam Kamal Khan, the chief minister of Baluchistan province, also condemned the attack, saying “the enemy of humanity” is to blame.

Hours after the attack in Quetta, a roadside bomb exploded outside a shop in the southwestern border town of Chama, killing one person and wounding 10 others, police and hospitals officials said.

Several militant groups operate in Baluchistan, which is also the scene of a low-level insurgency by separatists demanding more autonomy and a greater share in the region’s natural resources such as gas and oil.</s>A bomb blast ripped through a vegetable market in Pakistan's restive Quetta city early Friday, killing at least 20 people including the members of the minority Hazara community and injuring 30 others.

The blast at around 7:35 am was caused by an improvised explosive device (IED) that had been hidden among the vegetables in the market, police said.

At least eight of those killed in the bomb blast at Hazarganji area of Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan, belonged to the Hazara community. The security forces fear the death toll may rise, GEO News reported.

DIG Quetta Abdul Razaq Cheema told the media that 16 people, including a Frontier Corp (FC) official, lost their lives in the blast which was targetted at the Hazara community.

Thirty others were injured and were undergoing treatment. Four FC personnel were also among the injured, the official added.

Buildings located nearby were also damaged in the blast, police said. Security forces have cordoned off the site of the blast.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Prime Minister Imran Khan condemned the blast in Hazarganji and sought a report on the incident.

Hazaras make up a significant minority group in Pakistan and most of them live in Quetta.

Balochistan, which borders Afghanistan and Iran, is Pakistan's largest and poorest province, rife with ethnic, sectarian and separatist insurgencies.</s>(RFE/RL) — At least 18 people were killed and 48 injured in a bombing claimed by an affiliate of the Pakistani Taliban in Quetta, southwest Pakistan on April 12, police said.

Police chief Abdur Razzaq Cheema told RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal that explosives were packed in a car parked at a busy vegetable market.

Two children were among the dead and seven were rushed to hospital with injuries, he said.

The bombing appeared to target members of the Shi’ite ethnic Hazara community, Cheema added.

Provincial police chief Mohsin Butt said eight Hazara were among the victims.

Hazara make up about 500,000 of Quetta’s 2.3 million people.

Amnesty International said the blast was a “painful reminder” of the many attacks suffered by the Hazara community in Quetta over the years.

“Each time, there are promises that more will be done to protect them, and each time those promises have failed to materialize,” Omar Waraich, Amnesty’s deputy director for South Asia, said in a statement.

The Qari Hussain Force, an affiliate of the Pakistani Taliban, also known as the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP), later claimed responsibility for the attack.

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan and President Arif Alvi issued statements condemning the attack and adding that it would not weaken “the resolve of the nation in the fight against terrorism.”

Jam Kamal Khan, the chief minister of Balochistan Province, condemned the attack, saying “the enemy of humanity is behind this act of terrorism.”

Quetta is the capital of Balochistan, where separatist groups have waged a low-level insurgency.

Pakistani Taliban militants have been waging a campaign of bombings and other attacks on Pakistani security forces.</s>In Pakistan, at least 21 people have been killed and 50 others injured in a suicide bombing today in Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan. The attack believed to be targeting the Shiite Hazara ethnic minority community.

The explosion happened this morning in the busy wholesale market area of Hazarganj. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.
Twenty one people are killed and about fifty others injured in a suicide bombing at a market in Quetta, Pakistan.