Bomb hits anti-Israel rally, killing At least 6 people in Pakistan

The local leader of an Islamist party that organized one of Pakistan's many anti-Israel rallies is thought to have been the target of the bombing.

At least six people died and at least 12 more were injured in a bomb blast at an anti-Israel protest in southwestern Pakistan on Friday.

A religious group was rallying against Israel's campaign in Gaza. The incident occured in Chamman, a remote town in the province of Balochistan.

The circumstances of the explosion were unclear; however, local authorities were investigating whether it orginated from a motorbike bomb. No one has taken responsibility for the apparent attack.

Islamist leader the reported target

Local police chief Jafar Khan told Reuters that the blast had targeted the vehicle of the local leader of the hardline religious party that organized the rally.

Local media reported that the man, JUI-Nazriyati Senior Vice President Maulana Abdul Qadir, was injured but quickly released from the hospital.

The rally was one of several anti-Israel protests across the country. The bombing occured just hours after Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi welcomed a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas.

Near the border with Balochistan, the province has been the site of a decade-long insurgency seeking independence or a large share of profits from the region's natural resources.

Earlier, when the rocket fire were being exhchange between Israel and Palestine backed organisation Hamas Thousands of people joined pro-Palestinian rallies in several German cities last week, including Berlin, Frankfurt, Cologne, Leipzig and Hamburg.

The protests were mostly peaceful and many demonstrators explicitly expressed their opposition to Israel's policy towards the Palestinians.

Many held up signs demanding "Freedom for Palestine," "Stop the genocide," and "Against Zionists — not against Jews."

However, there were some scenes of violence and antisemitic agitation in several cities, according to German media.

Some protesters tried to burn Israeli flags, shouted expletives about Jewish people and called for the bombing of Tel Aviv.

Police were also on heightened alert for possible violence as last Saturday was also Nakba Day, marked by Palestinians as the "catastrophe" of Israel's creation in 1948, which turned hundreds of thousands of people into refugees.

Thousands of Pro-Palestinian demonstrators took to the streets across North America and London on the same day.(dpa, AFP, AP, Reuters)