2003 Quetta mosque bombing: what Wikipedia removed
A mosque bombing in Quetta, Pakistan in 2003 killed 53 Hazara Shia Muslims during Friday prayers. Through 2015 the opening called it the “first of its kind terrorist, sectarian attack” and the first suicide bombing of its kind. Today’s opening describes gunmen shooting and a suicide bomber but never uses the word “terrorist”; the word survives 7 times elsewhere in the article. A reader of the opening alone does not learn that Wikipedia once called this the first terrorist attack of its kind in the sectarian campaign against Hazara Shias.
The word “terror” appeared 1 times in this article’s opening at its peak, in 2015. Today the opening carries none; the body carries 7. Checked against the full current article on 2026-08-01.
The tracked words, snapshot by snapshot
Section titled “The tracked words, snapshot by snapshot”| word | 2015 | 2020 | 6 October 2023 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| terror | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| massacre | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Counts are of the opening paragraph only, the part most readers, search engines and AI training sets ever quote.
What was taken out
Section titled “What was taken out”- This passage called the bombing the first of its kind terrorist, sectarian attack; a reader today does not learn that ranking.
- This is a rewording of the date and setting of the attack; the underlying facts are unchanged.
- This is a rewording of the reference to the earlier massacre of Hazara police cadets; the fact itself survives in today’s opening.
How it opened then, and now
Section titled “How it opened then, and now”2015 (revision 659232358):
2003 Quetta mosque bombing was first of its kind terrorist, sectarian attack as for the first time a suicide bomber was used and one of the deadliest attacks on Hazara people , the Shia minority in southwestern city of Quetta , in Balochistan province of Pakistan . On Friday July 4, 2003 when hundreds of worshipers were offering Friday prayer , three armed men enter the Asna Ashari Hazara Imambargah and started shooting , threw hand grenades and one suicide bomber blew himself which left more than 50 dead and tens of others injured. It was second major sectarian attack on Hazara community in Quetta after the massacre of Police cadets. It was the start of the Series of Hazara Killings in Quet…
2025 (revision 1273245315):
On 4 July 2003, 53 Hazara Shias were killed and at least 65 others were injured when a mosque was attacked during the Friday prayer in Quetta , Balochistan , Pakistan . When hundreds of worshipers were offering Friday prayer , three armed men entered the Asna Ashari Hazara Imambargah and started shooting and throwing hand grenades and one suicide bomber blew himself up - which left 53 dead and scores injured. It was the latest of several major sectarian attack in the series of killings of Hazaras in Quetta , coming less than a month after the massacre of Hazara police cadets on June 8, 2003. ^ Cite error: The named reference G was invoked but never defined (see the help page ). ^ AFP, Quetta…
Related
Section titled “Related”- The drift report: what changed across all 61,944 watched articles
- The case file for this article, with every snapshot and every marked removal
- Who made the cuts: removals grouped by the account that made them
- The live article on Wikipedia
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