Blasts Kill Dozens in Pakistan During British Leader’s Visit

By SALMAN MASOOD and ISMAIL KHAN

Militant bombings in Pakistan killed dozens of people across the country on Sunday in attacks that overshadowed a visit by the British prime minister and underscored the array of threats facing Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s new government. In the city of Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan Province and the center of a violent campaign by Sunni militants against the Shiite Hazara minority, a suicide bomber detonated explosives near a mosque on Sunday evening, killing at least 28 people, officials said. No specific group claimed responsibility, though officials attributed the attack to Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, an outlawed group that has killed hundreds of Hazaras there in recent years. Though a national outcry over anti-Shiite violence has intensified over the past year, government and security officials have been accused of dragging their feet on efforts to curb the attacks. And it is just one of the facets of violence in Baluchistan, the center of a separatist movement that has brought repeated violent crackdowns by the Pakistani security forces. On the outskirts of the northwestern city of Peshawar, a car bomb detonated as a convoy of Frontier Corps militiamen passed on the area’s main highway. The bomb, parked near a police station and in a market area that is always crowded, killed at least 17 people. Though the Frontier Corps convoy appeared to be the target, all the victims were civilians, according to Javed Marwat, the deputy commissioner for Peshawar. The people wounded, including three members of the Frontier Corps, were taken to hospitals in Peshawar. Several cars and shops were damaged. In a separate attack, a military convoy was struck by a roadside bomb in North Waziristan, the semiautonomous tribal region where militants of all stripes — local and foreign — have taken refuge. At least four soldiers were killed, and at least 19 people were wounded, officials said. The Pakistani military has balked at American pressure to start a military operation in North Waziristan, and army troops deployed in some areas there mostly stay inside their bases and encampments. But military convoys regularly move during what are called “road opening” days, when the authorities impose a curfew to help clear the roadways in an attempt to ensure safe passage. “Curfew was announced last night, so some militants might have planted the bomb and waited for the convoy to move,” one Pakistani security official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “All they needed was to push a button, even if there was curfew.” There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the attacks, and officials said that militants in the semiautonomous tribal regions straddling the border with Afghanistan were most likely involved. The attacks came even as Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif played host to Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain, in the first visit by a Western leader since Pakistan’s elections in May. The two focused on helping Pakistan’s economy, and pledged to expand economic cooperation and trade. But militancy again dominated the day’s headlines in Pakistan. In a joint appearance, the two leaders said that countering such violence was critical, and the British leader said his country would offer more expertise and equipment to help fight bombing campaigns by the Taliban and other militant groups. Mr. Sharif and Mr. Cameron also discussed the war in Afghanistan and the coming Western military withdrawal. The shift has major implications for the Pakistani government, which is concerned about ensuring its influence in Kabul, and for the militants who work on both sides of the border. “I have assured Prime Minister Cameron of our firm resolve to promote the shared objective of a peaceful and stable Afghanistan,” Mr. Sharif said.