Twin blasts in Karachi kill at least seven

Sectarian strife

Two bombs were detonated minutes apart in Karachi’s Hyderi Market during Tuesday evening rush hour, initially killing six people, with the death toll rising to seven as one of the wounded died from her injuries overnight (AP, AFP, DT, CNN). Police said they suspected members of the Bohra minority, an offshoot of Pakistan’s Shi’a Muslim minority, were the targets of the attack. They later arrested two members of the sectarian militant group Lashkar-i-Jhangvi for their suspected involvement in the blasts (Dawn).

A car bomb exploded Wednesday on the outskirts of Peshawar, the main city in northwestern Pakistan, killing at least ten people and wounding several others (The News, Dawn ). Another car bomb had exploded in the Mastung area of Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan Province on Tuesday as a bus carrying Shi’a Muslim pilgrims passed by, killing three and injuring nine of those on board (Dawn).

The Pakistani government announced Wednesday that Friday will be a national holiday in protest of the anti-Islam film Innocence of Muslims, which has sparked violent demonstrations and attacks on American installations around the world (Dawn, The News).

Rage goes on

Around 1,000 Afghans protested against the inflammatory film in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad on Wednesday, blocking a main highway leading to Kabul (AFP). And a motorcycle bomb exploded outside of a police training camp in the western Afghan province of Herat on Wednesday, killing two Afghan security guards (AP).

The Army’s new gear

Female soldiers from Ft. Campbell, Kentucky deploying to Afghanistan will be the first to try out new Army body armor that has been specially designed with shorter and more tailored vests to better fit a woman’s body shape (AP). Women now make up 14% of the U.S. Army, and are closer to combat than they have ever been before.

— Jennifer Rowland