At least 10 people were killed and over 30 others injured on Monday in a blast that hit a hospital in Pakistan’s Quetta city following the killing of an advocate earlier in the day, police said.
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Television footage showed scenes of chaos, with panicked people fleeing through debris as smoke filled the hospital corridors. This news story is related to Latest/140985-Death-toll-rises-to-40-in-Quetta-bomb-blast/ – breaking news, latest news, pakistan ne.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for either the blast or the shooting.
The police officials said that the auto of the lawyer leaders came under attack on Manno Jan road in the city.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif strongly condemned the blast in Quetta and expressed his “deep grief and anguish over the loss of precious human lives” in the attack, in which several senior lawyers were also killed. He also asked health workers to provide the best treatment possible to those wounded in the attack.
“No one will be allowed to disturb peace in the province that has been restored due to countless sacrifices of security forces, police and the people”, his statement said.
He instructed local authorities in Baluchistan province, where Quetta is the capital, to maintain utmost vigilance and beef up security.
The motive behind Monday’s attacks, however, was unclear.
Pakistani police say a bomb has exploded at a government-run hospital in the southwestern city of Quetta, killing at least six people. Most of the dead and injured are lawyers, and include police officials and journalists as well, police and eye witnesses were quoted as saying in reports.
Lawyer Abdul Latif said he arrived at the hospital to express his grief after hearing that lawyer Mr Kasi had been killed by gunmen earlier in the day.
The subsequent suicide attack appeared to target his mourners, Anwar ul Haq Kakar, a spokesman for the Baluchistan government, said.
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Kasi was shot and killed early on Monday morning while on his way to the main court complex in Quetta, Geo reported.
