Pakistani hotel bombed

By: Jenna Zuraiki, Feature editor, The Pawprint 

A bomb explosion at a hotel in the Pakistani city of Quetta has, unfortunately, killed 4 people and wounded 12. It is suspected that the reason for this bombing was the targeting of the Chinese ambassador in the car park of the Serena Hotel. 

The ambassador was understood to be in Quetta, the capital of the Balochistan area near the Afghan border, but was not present.  Balochistan is the home to several armed groups, including the separatists. The separatists want independence for the rest of Pakistan and oppose major Chinese organization projects in the area. Nevertheless, the Taliban said they were behind Wednesday’s attack at the hotel in Quetta. 

They claim that “it was a suicide attack in which our suicide bomber used his explosives-filled car in the hotel”. For the past couple of months, the Pakistani Taliban and other organizations have increased their number of attacks in the tribal areas near the border of Afghanistan. 

Another reason suggested for the attack was to rid Quetta of Chinese influence. As China pours more and more money into infrastructural projects in the region, the Taliban argues, that the dream of separation from Pakistan will get harder to realise. 

The reason for this attack is the Pakistani Taliban do not want Quetta to be filled with major Chinese infrastructures, because they want Quetta to themselves and make it their own area, but the more money that is invested the less likely the Karachi government is to give more autonomy to Quetta.