The protesters pelted vehicles with stones and prevented

rescue workers and police from approaching the site of the blast for some time. They also blocked roads and fired in the air. Security forces cordoned off the area and did not allow the media to approach the site of the blast. Officials said this was done as terrorists had set off a bigger bomb after a smaller initial blast in recent attacks. Similar attacks in the recent past have also been blamed on the banned Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, a notorious militant group that often targets Shias. On January 10, a twin suicide attack in Quetta killed 92 Hazara Shias and injured over 100, the highest toll in a single attack on Shias, who make up 20 per cent of Pakistan's population of 180 million. Following the attack, the federal government imposed Governor's Rule in Balochistan. Shia groups and political parties asked people to observe three days of mourning and called for a strike in Quetta tomorrow to protest the killing of members of the minority community. President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf condemned the attack and reiterated the government's resolve to continue the fight against militants. Ashraf directed provincial authorities to arrest the perpetrators of the blast. "We will not be intimidated by such cowardly acts and such acts will not deter our resolve to fight terrorism," he said.