January 2013 Pakistan bombings

Since the government's operation to end a private fundamentalist militia's occupation of Lal Masjid in the national capital of Islamabad, there has been a growing insurgency by the Islamist Pakistani Taliban and others, especially in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, bordering and resultant from Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Additionally, the insurgency in Balochistan, predominantly by the Balochistan Liberation Army, had been ongoing prior to this period; while there has also been deadly sectarianism in Pakistan. ==Bombings==

Quetta Three bombs exploded in the city of Quetta, one early in the day and two in the evening. The first bomb, which went off in the city's commercial district near a public plaza and crowded food markets, killed twelve people and injured 47; The deadliest attack came later in the day, when a suicide bomber blew himself up inside a snooker hall at about 8:50 pm, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, a Sunni Deobandi militant group, claimed responsibility for this attack. A government official said that the bombings were likely Lashkar-e-Jhangvi's retaliation for the shooting of a Sunni cleric and the capture of weapons from a site believed to be controlled by the group, both of which had occurred the day before. The Balochistan provincial government said that it would pay two million rupees to the family of each policeman killed, while families of the others killed would receive one million rupees. Three days of mourning were announced for Balochistan in response to the bombings. and Saifur Rehman was a reporter. Also killed in the attack was Iqbal Hussain, who was a journalist from the news agency News Network International. Rehman died later at a hospital from his injuries, while the other two died on site. At least two other journalists suffered from more than minor injuries, including Jameel Ahmed, the engineer for Samaa TV, and Mohammad Hasan, a photojournalist for Independent News Pakistan. Swat Valley On 10 January 2013, an explosion in a Tableeghi Jamaat seminary in the Swat Valley, outside of Saidu Sharif, killed 30 people, with 70 injured. The explosion was initially reported to be the result of a gas leak in the building's basement, but police and medical officials said it had likely been a bomb—doctors said that victims had been injured by ball bearings, often used in bombs, and according to a senior doctor there was a "smell of explosives". ==Reactions==

Protests in Quetta by the city's Shia community erupted the day after the bombings, with protesters and local Shia officials refusing to bury those killed until the Pakistani army took control of security in the city. On 13 January, Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf visited protesters in Quetta and agreed to dismiss provincial government officials, though he refused to implement military control in the city. Early on 14 January, he announced that Balochistan Chief Minister Aslam Raisani and his cabinet had been removed from their posts, with Zulfikar Ali Magsi appointed to lead the provincial government. In response, Quetta Shias agreed to end their protests and begin burials later in the day. ==See also==