Alwaght- At least 70 people were killed and over 122 others were severely injured when a powerful explosion hit Pakistan's Quetta’s Civil Hospital on Monday.
According to the eyewitnesses, the powerful blast hit the entry gate of the hospital where a group of lawyers were gathered to support a slain colleague, Bilal Anwar Kasi, according to the Daily Pakistan newspaper.
The blast took place soon after the dead body of slain lawyer leader Bilal Anwar Kasi was brought to the hospital. Gunshots were also fired after the bomb blast.
Mr Kasi, who was president of the Balochistan Bar Association, had been shot by two unknown assailants while on his way from his home to the main court complex in Quetta.
Bilal Anwar Kasi president of Pakistan’s Balochistan Bar Association
Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) splinter group, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (JuA) has claimed responsibility for the suicide attack.
"The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan Jamaat-ur-Ahrar takes responsibility for this attack, and pledges to continue carrying out such attacks. We will release a video report on this soon," the group's spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan said in an email.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif strongly condemned the assassination of President Balochistan Bar Association Bilal Kasi and Quetta blast.
In a similar incident in June this year, University Law College Quetta principal Barrister Amanullah Achakzai was also murdered when unidentified assailants targeted him in Quetta’s Spinny Road area.
In the last 15 years alone, over 1,400 incidents of targeted killings have taken place in Balochistan, including several major suicide blasts which mainly targeted Hazara community.
