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30 killed in bombing in Pakistani city of Quetta

According to the Daily Pakistan newspaper, the explosion reportedly took place shortly after the body of slain former Balochistan Bar Association (BBA) President Bilal Anwar Kasi was brought to the hospital.

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The explosion took place soon after lawyers arrived at the hospital when the Kasi’s body was brought in, police said.

TV reports said people were attempting to exit the hospital in a state of chaos.

It was not immediately clear if the blast and the earlier shooting were related and no group has claimed responsibility for the attacks so far.

Sanaullah Zehri, the chief minister in the Baluchistan province, said it seemed to be a suicide attack, but police were still investigating.

Journalists present at the premises also came in the line of fire, Dawn online added.

Following the blast in Quetta, Inspector General (IG) police A.D. Khawaja issued a high security alert across Sindh.

Following the blast, Balochistan Home Minister Sarfraz Bugti said that it was a matter of serious security lapse as there was no security alert for the hospital.

An emergency has been declared in hospitals across Quetta.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif strongly condemned the assassination of President Balochistan Bar Association Bilal Kasi and Quetta blast.

“No one will be allowed to disturb the peace of the province”, he said in a statement.

Balochistan has been experiencing incident violence and targeted killings since more than a decade.

The principal of University of Balochistan’s law college, Barrister Amanullah Achakzai, was also shot dead by unknown assailants on Spini Road here in June.

More than 1,400 incidents targeting Shia and Hazara community members have also taken place in the province during the past 15 years.

Pakistan’s largest province by area, Balochistan is home to a low-level insurgency by Baloch separatists. Al Qaeda-linked and sectarian militants also operate in the region.

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Eyewitnesses stated that scores of lawyers were injured due to the blast. Most of the injured are lawyers, eye witnesses were quoted as saying in the local media.

Injured survivors receive medical treatment following a bomb blast near a hospital in Quetta. The city has been hit by multiple blasts this year