At least 63 people were killed Monday in a bomb attack on mourners outside a hospital in Quetta in southwest Pakistan. Hours after the attack, a breakaway faction of militant Taliban group claimed responsibility.
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Graphic video footage from the scene showed bodies strewn on the ground, some still smoking, among pools of blood and shattered glass as shocked survivors cried and comforted one another. Waliur Rehman said he was taking his ailing father to the emergency ward when the explosion shook the building, knocking them both to the ground.
When he looked up, Rehman said he saw bodies of the dead and the wounding crying out for help.
The attack happened after many lawyers and journalists had gathered at the hospital following the death of prominent lawyer Bilal Kasi, who had been killed in a shooting earlier in the day.
The deafening blast, heard clearly on video, took place in the emergency ward of the Civil Hospital when almost 100 lawyers had gathered to collect the body of a lawyer shot dead hours earlier.
December 7-9: At least 66 people die in four attacks at a market in Lahore, Pakistan´s second biggest city. But he said he didn’t know he would “see the bodies of dozens of other lawyers” killed and wounded shortly after arriving. The explosion occurred as mourners gathered in the hospital, an eyewitness said.
ARY News said the dead included 25 lawyers and two journalists, including Aaj TV cameraman Shehzad Khan, who could be heard clearly on the camera reciting the “Kalma” in a groaning voice as he died. “Baluchistan has witnessed a number of terrorist attacks in the last 12 years, most of which targeted the Shiite community of the province”.
While it was unclear who attacked the hospital, Balochistan’s provincial chief minister, Sanuallah Zehri, blamed the Indian government’s intelligence agency’s Research and Analysis Wing.
Prime Minister Sharif condemned the killings and expressed his “deep grief and anguish over the loss of precious human lives”.
“No one will be allowed to disturb the peace in the province that has been restored thanks to the countless sacrifices by the security forces, police and the people of Balochistan”, he said.
The prime minister said in a statement that he has directed authorities to “maintain utmost vigilance” and that the country has boosted security for members in the legal fraternity as well as the rest of society.
He said a state of emergency has been declared in all hospitals of the city to ensure the best possible medical treatment for the injured people.
Kasi was shot and killed by gunmen earlier on Monday as he was on his way to his office.
Eleven people were killed and several others injured in a bomb explosion near Civil Hospital Quetta this morning.
Quetta is the capital of southwestern Baluchistan province, which has always been hit by insurgency.
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Earlier, the President of QBA Advocate Bilal Anwar Kasi has been killed when unknown assailants opened fire at Mannu Jan road.
