January 2013 Pakistan bombings

On 10 January 2013, several bombings took place in the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta the capital of Balochistan Province, killing a total of 130 people and injuring at least 270. The Quetta bombings led to protests by the city's Shia Muslim Hazara community; Prime Minister of Pakistan Raja Pervez Ashraf responded by dismissing the Chief Minister of Baluchistan, Aslam Raisani, and replacing him with Zulfikar Ali Magsi.

Since the government seizure of Lal Masjid outside the national capital of Islamabad, there has been a growing insurgency with the Islamist Pakistani Taliban and others in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, bordering and resultant from Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Additionally, separatism in Balochistan, predominantly by the Balochistan Liberation Army, has been ongoing prior to this period; while there has also been dedly sectarianism in Pakistan.

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; a Baluch separatist group, the United Baloch Army, claimed responsibility. Police official Hamid Shakil said that "Frontier Corps personnel were the target because the bomb was planted underneath their vehicle," though mostly civilians were killed.