Four women injured in Quetta acid attack

QUETTA: Four women were injured when unknown persons threw acid on them in Quetta’s Sariab area Monday and later fled, DawnNews reported.

Imran Qureshi, the Superintendent of Police, told Dawn that two armed motorcyclists threw acid on four women in Killi Kamalo area of Quetta's Sariab road.

The women were shifted to the burns ward of Bolan Medical Complex in critical condition, he added.

According to Dr Hidayatullah, the women were targeted on their faces.

Qureshi said that the women were engaged in shopping at a popular shopping centre when they were targeted. The attackers sped away on their motorcycle after launching the attack.

A huge contingent of police and Frontier Corps (FC) personnel reached the site of incident as a probe into the attack went under way.

"My sister was shopping in the market when acid was thrown on her face", Abdul Jabbar, the brother of one of the victims told Dawn.

A view of relatives of patients waiting outside the burns ward of Bolan Medical Complex— Photo by Syed Ali Shah

Like Abdul Jabbar, a large number of family members of the acid injured women were standing outside the Burns section of Bolan Medical Complex Hospital to inquire about the health condition of their loved ones.

"Why my sister was attacked, we have no dispute with someone", Jabbar said.

Police said the accused attacked the women in a crowded area where dozens of cosmetics shops are located. "They attacked women standing outside a shop", Imran Qureshi stated.

Through syringe, the accused sprayed acid on the faces of women, police said. The attack forced other women to flee and there was hue and cry after the tragic incident, Jabbar said.

Home Minister Balochistan, Mir Sarfaraz Bugti took notice of the incident and formed a committee headed by SP Sariab Imran Qureshi to probe into the incident.

"I strongly condemn the incident", the Minister told Dawnadding that all out efforts would be made to bring the perpetrators to book and justice would be done with the victims' families.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

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Zarb-i-Azb: Two more militant strongholds cleared in NWA

ISLAMABAD: After Miramshah, two important villages of North Waziristan Boya and Degan, which were known to be strongholds of local and foreign militants, have been cleared by Pakistani armed forces.

“Consolidation of Boya and Degan is in progress,” said a press release issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) on Saturday.

This information, however, could not be independently verified.

Terrorists are being eliminated and dislodged from their bases in North Waziristan as the operation progresses as per plan, said the statement.

The press release said that house to house search in Mussaki, Hurmez and Mirali Bazar was being carried out by integrated group of forces.

Terrorists holed up inside Mirali and surrounding areas have been firing rockets and mortars and using heavy machine guns and sniper rifles, said the statement, adding that four terrorists were killed during an exchange of fire last night.

According to ISPR, 12 IEDs were neutralised last night alone, while an IED making factory, huge cache of arms and ammunition and foreign currency were also recovered.

Corps Commander Lieutenant General Khalid Rabbani also visited Mirali, Boya and Degan areas of North Waziristan Agency earlier today and met with the Army troops.

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