Dozens killed in Quetta bomb attack

Islamabad: More than 60 people were killed and dozens injured in a suspected suicide bomb explosion on Monday in the capital of Pakistan’s restive southwestern Balochistan province, officials said

The blast, one of the worst attacks in the province long plagued by a low-scale separatist insurgency, occurred at the Civil Hospital in Quetta.

The attacker targeted lawyers gathered outside the emergency ward of the hospital where the body of the slain president of Balochistan Bar Association, Bilal Anwar Kasi, was brought for autopsy.

Kasi was earlier shot dead by unknown gunmen on Mannu Jan Road in the provincial capital when he was on his way from his home to Balochistan High Court.

The dead and the injured included lawyers, police officials and journalists, the national broadcaster said and quoted Balochistan home minister Sarfraz Bugti as saying that the incident appeared to be a suicide attack.

Talking to a private TV channel, Chief Minister of Balochistan Sanaullah Zehri said it is the “blackest day for Balochistan”.

The chief minister said terrorists were now hitting soft targets.

President Mamnoon Hussain and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif strongly denounced the bombing and directed the authorities concerned to maintain utmost vigilance and beef up security for the legal fraternity and members of civil society.

The prime minister said peace in the province had been restored due to countless sacrifices of security forces, police and the people of Balochistan, and that attempts to sabotage it would be foiled.

Commander Southern Command Lieutenant-General Ammer Riaz visited the Civil Hospital Quetta.

A spokesman of Balochistan government said emergency had been declared in all hospitals of the Quetta city.

The provincial chief minister called a high-level meeting to take stock of the situation and announced a three-day mourning during which the national flag will remain at half-mast on government buildings.

Lawyers have been targeted several times in the last few months in Quetta.

A lawyer was shot dead last week while in June the principal of University of Balochistan’s law college, Barrister Amanullah Achakzai, was gunned down by unknown assailants.

The mineral-rich province, which borders both Afghanistan and Iran, is troubled by a separatist insurgency involving ethnic Baloch militant groups. It also has a history of sectarian violence targeting the minority Hazara community.

Federal Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid said in a statement that the nation stands united against the enemies of peace and progress in the country.

Those responsible for the Quetta carnage would be tracked down and punished, the minister said.