The Pakistan government came under fire Sunday for security lapses after a bomb blast in Quetta Saturday killed at least 81.

The Governor of Balochistan province Nawab Zulfikar Ali Magsi accused intelligence and law enforcement agencies of being unable to maintain law and order, saying the agents were either “too scared or too clueless.”

Saturday’s attack was carried out by a Sunni militant group targeting Hazaras, a Shiite ethnic group, on the outskirts of the southwestern city of Quetta.

“Seemingly, the agents are either too scared to go after the terror-mongers or too clueless to even know who they are dealing with,” Magsi told Pakistan’s Geo News after visiting the victims under medical care in a Quetta military hospital.

“It’s their job to pre-empt such attacks. That’s what they are paid for. They failed all these innocent people who died in this catastrophic bomb blast,” the governor said.

Magsi announced compensation of 100,000 rupees ($1,000) for the families of each fatal victim.

Shiite political organizations called for a strike in Quetta Sunday to protest against the latest carnage, Reuters reported. Many shops and bazaars were closed.

On Saturday, Sunni extremist group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) claimed responsibility for the attack in Quetta, according to Reuters.

Last month, LeJ claimed responsibility for two deadly suicide bombings in another Quetta neighborhood, Alamdar Road that killed 85 Shiite Muslims. Authorities had described the twin bombings as one of the worst attacks on the Shiite minority.

Following last month’s attack, Shiite leaders called on Pakistan's military to take over security in Quetta and quell Sunni extremism.

Magsi was made provincial chief executive after the government of Chief Minister Nawab Aslam Raisani was sacked following the January attack.

The schism between the two major denominations of Islam developed after Prophet Muhammad died in 632 and his followers failed to reach an agreement on a successor.

LeJ believes that Shiites insult close companions of Prophet Muhammad, and are therefore not Muslims. The banned Sunni militant group claims killing Shiites is justified in Islam.

The Hazaras, who practice Shia Islam, in Sunni-majority Pakistan and Afghanistan, blame the Pakistan government for its negligence in acting against Sunni extremism to contain the violence.

Sunni extremists claim that the Hazaras are proxies of Iran in Pakistan. At least 600,000 Hazaras live in Quetta, located on a key Shiite pilgrimage route to predominantly Shiite Iran.

According to Human Rights Watch, more than 400 Shiites were killed in Pakistan last year. The rights group said over 125 were killed in Balochistan province, majority of them belonging to the Hazara community. Some hardline Shiite groups have struck back by killing Sunni clerics.

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