However, their somber moment was disrupted by more violence when a suicide bomber detonated explosives in the hospital’s emergency room, killing at least 60 and leaving 120 injured.
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Monday’s attack came as lawyers had gathered at a Quetta hospital after the body of a prominent colleague – Bilal Kasi, the president of the province’s bar association – was brought there.
The Khorasan branch of ISIS, a regional affiliate of the Mideast-based Sunni Islamist militant group, asserted responsibility for the blast in telephone calls to journalists in Pakistan. Two groups have already claimed responsibility for the disgusting attack: ISIS and Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a splinter group of the Pakistani Taliban.
The attack, which stunned the judicial community, also underscored concerns that militants in Pakistan are still capable of striking in the heart of the country’s cities and towns – despite government claims of dismantling various terror networks.
Balochistan Chief Minister Sanaullah Zehri announced a three-day mourning yesterday.
Editor’s note: Correction – A previous version of this story published on August 8, 2016, stated that the Pakistan Taliban, rather than a splinter group, claimed responsibility for the attack.
Jamaat-ul-Ahrar [The Party of Freedom Fighters] split from the Pakistani Taliban two years ago.
Country s top lawyers said that they would boycott court proceedings throughout much of the country today in protest.
Lawyers have a powerful role in Pakistani civil society; their activism in protest of former president Pervez Musharraf’s firing of the nation’s chief justice and his crackdown on the judiciary in 2007 was the spark that ultimately led to Musharraf’s resignation. Moreover, a surgeon said that death toll is more likely to rise due to critical conditions of some injured people. The attack on the hospital was seen as a deliberate targeting of lawyers and journalists.
It remains unclear if the two events were in any way connected. “The terrorists always opt for soft targets due to strict security in other parts of the city”, he added.
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“I don’t have any details, but can confirm that around 20 bodies have been recovered by rescue staff of the Civil Hospital”, said Anwar-ul-Haq, a spokesman for the provincial government. The insurgents have claimed a number of murders and bombings in recent months. Outlawed outfits have also carried out sectarian killings of Shia Hazaras and targeted police and security officials.
