Turkey condemns Quetta bombing

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ANKARA, TURKEY - NOVEMBER 27: Turkish National flag flies at half-mast at the frontyard of the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Ankara, Turkey on November 27, 2017. Turkey declared one day national mourning in tribute to al-Rawdah mosque terrorist bombing attack in the town of Bir al-Abed west of El Arish in North Sina, in Cairo, Egypt. The death toll in the attack on a mosque in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula is at least 305 people. Fatih Aktas / Anadolu Agency

ANKARA: Turkey has condemned Friday’s deadly terrorist attack in southwestern Pakistan.

“We received the news with deep sorrow that a bomb blast which took place at a marketplace today in Quetta, capital of the Balochistan province of Pakistan, resulted in the loss of lives and left many others wounded,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Friday.

A powerful bomb blast in the northern Hazargunji outskirt of the city of Quetta, Balochistan’s capital, killed at least 20 people and injured 48 others, local media reported.

“We condemn this heinous terrorist attack and wish Allah’s mercy upon those who lost their lives, a speedy recovery to the wounded, and convey our condolences to the Government and brotherly people of Pakistan,” the statement added.

Quetta has long been beset with sectarian violence that has claimed more than 2,000 lives over the last decade, according to local media.

Balochistan, which covers 42 percent of the country’s land and borders Afghanistan and Iran, is also a key route of the multi-million-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).