Bomb blast in Pakistan vegetable market kills 16

A bomb hidden between bags of potatoes at an outdoor Pakistani market killed at least 16 people on Friday, half of them ethnic Hazaras, officials said, in an attack apparently aimed at minority Shi’ite Muslims.

Images from the scene of the explosion showed blood sprayed across the dirt floor of the market, damaged vehicles and sacks of potatoes split open by the force of the blast.

At least seven members of the Hazara community and one paramilitary soldier were among those killed, he said.

At least 30 people were wounded in the blast, officials said.

Baluchistan is the focus of the $57-billion China Pakistan Economic Corridor, a transport and energy link planned to run from western China to Pakistan’s southern deepwater port of Gwadar.

Since 2013, more than 509 Shia Muslims - mainly ethnic Hazaras - have been killed in a campaign of targeted shootings and bombings in Balochistan province, according to government data.

The majority of attacks have occurred in the provincial capital, Quetta, where most of the country's roughly 600,000 Hazaras reside.

The city's Hazara residents now live in two heavily protected enclaves on either side of the city, with movement outside of those areas restricted by threats to their lives.

Members of the community say they refrain from engaging in business or education in other parts of the city because of the risks.

Every morning, police guard a convoy that leaves the Hazara enclave to visit markets so that Hazaras may stock up on basic necessities.

This is not the first time vegetable traders have been targeted by attackers.

In October 2017, unidentified gunmen opened fire on a van bound for the fruit and vegetable market, killing the driver and four others, police say.

Hazaras have been frequently targeted by Taliban and Islamic State militants and other Sunni Muslim militant groups in both Pakistan and Afghanistan. They have been heavily targeted in Afghanistan in attacks claimed by an affiliate of Islamic State.

Ethnic Baluch separatists are also fighting against what they call the unfair exploitation of their province’s gas and other resources.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack on Friday.