Pakistan: Teenage Sisters Attacked with Acid

Two sisters have suffered the second reported acid attack in Pakistan in less than 24 hours. The victims in their early teens were sprayed with acid outside a market in the Mastung district in Balochistan.

Masked men on motorbikes were said to have attacked the girls, Mawish Jamali, 12 and Sarish Jamali, 14, as they made their way home from the main market on Chandni Road. The girls were admitted to the Civil Hospital in Mastung and are said to be in a stable condition.

Nazir Ahmed Langov, Officer in charge of the investigation said: "The victims received minor burn injuries. The attack (was) meant to terrorise the girls. It is the first ever incident in Mastung district,"

The news follows a similar attack on 21 July when men on motorbikes targeted four women with acid-filled syringes on the outskirts of Quetta in a growing pattern where women are the prime targets.

"We had never been warned or threatened. We do not know who is behind the attack," police quoted the victims as saying.

In both cases, the culprits are still on the loose and the families of the victims have failed to cooperate with investigators.