Turkey condemns terrorist attack in Pakistan

By Zehra Nur Duz

ANKARA (AA) - 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 many 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).