2003 Quetta mosque bombing

On 4 July 2003, 53 Hazara Shias were killed and at least 65 others were injured when a mosque was attacked during the Friday prayer in Quetta, Balochistan, Pakistan. When hundreds of worshipers were offering Friday prayer, three armed men entered the Asna Ashari Hazara Imambargah and started shooting and throwing hand grenades and one suicide bomber blew himself up - which left 53 dead and scores injured. It was the latest of several major sectarian attack in the series of killings of Hazaras in Quetta, coming less than a month after the massacre of Hazara police cadets on June 8, 2003.

Bombing
On 4 July 2003, hundreds of worshippers were practicing Friday prayer in Asna Ashri Hazara Imambargah Kalan mosque. Five men armed with automatic weapons entered the mosque and fired on worshippers for ten continuous minutes and tried to throw a grenade, but it exploded in his hand. Worshippers disarmed one of the attackers and killed a third one. The other two attackers ran away from the roof. This attack left more 65 dead and tens of others injured.

Perpetrators
Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), a banned terrorist group, was responsible for the attack on the mosque. After investigations, intelligence agencies found a video compact disc in which two people are shown who claimed their people attacked the mosque and they were going to meet them in paradise.

Response

 * Pervez Musharraf, President of Pakistan at the time, cut short his 18-day trip to America and Europe. He was in a news conference in Paris when he heard the news. On his return to Islamabad, he said: "Whether they are religious extremists or sectarian extremists they are ignorant and wild."


 * In response, police in Quetta arrested around 19 culprits who were found to be involved in the attack.