“We harshly condemn this loathsome attack which attempts to prevent Pakistan from reaching a stable and prosperous future which it deserves. On this occasion, I find it useful to underline once more that we are in full solidarity against terrorism with the friendly and brotherly Pakistani people and government,” Erdoğan was quoted as saying in his message in a statement released Sunday by the Prime Ministry press office.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry, meanwhile, labeled the attack in Pakistan “a new manifestation of brutality which proves that terrorism is a crime against humanity.”
In a written statement released on Saturday, the ministry expressed “deep sadness and concern,” while calling for the rapid capture of the perpetrators of the attack in order to be handed over to justice.
The suicide car bombing in the northwest village of Shah Hasan Khel near South Waziristan that killed 96 people on New Year’s Day was one of the deadliest attacks since the army launched its recent offensive. The attack was followed Sunday by a roadside bomb that struck a vehicle carrying anti-Taliban tribal elders in Pakistan’s volatile northwest, killing two and critically wounding four others in the latest attack targeting local residents opposed to the militants.
