QUETTA: At least 53 people were killed in a suicide bombing
inside the Civil Hospital on Monday, hospital officials said. Many
others were injured in the attack.
There was no claim of
responsibility for the blast, which occurred at the gates of the
building housing the emergency ward. Bomb Disposal Squad officials
confirmed the explosion was a suicide bombing.
“The blast
took place after a number of lawyers and some journalists had gathered
at the hospital following the death of the president of the Balochistan
Bar Association in a separate shooting incident this morning," said
Balochistan Home Secretary Akbar Harifal.
What we know so far
- Loud explosion inside Quetta's Civil Hospital
- At least 53 people killed, many injured
- Attack may have been carried out by suicide bomber
- Blast followed killing of senior lawyer in Quetta
- CM Balochistan says RAW behind terrorism in Quetta
Condemning the attack, Balochistan Chief Minister Sanaullah
Zehri told local TV channel Geo News that Indian intelligence agency
Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) was behind terror incidents in Quetta.
The
CM shared this statement with the media before initial investigations
into the blast were completed, and before the nature of the blast was
confirmed.
The bomber struck as more than 100 mourners,
mostly lawyers and journalists, crowded into the emergency department to
accompany the body of Advocate Bilal Anwar Kasi, Faridullah, a
journalist who was among the wounded, told Reuters.
Most of the dead are lawyers.—DawnNews.
Noor Ahmed, the hospital's deputy chief surgeon for
victims of violent crime, said they were treating about 50 wounded in
the bombing.
“I can confirm that so far, 53 people have been killed in today's bombing at our hospital,” said Ahmed.
According
to senior police official Zahoor Ahmed Afridi, most of the dead were
lawyers. Several lawyers including the former president of Balochistan
Bar Association Baz Mohammad Kakar were reported injured.
Journalists
present at the premises also came in the line of fire and the cameraman
for DawnNews was severely injured in the explosion. Shahzad Khan, a
cameraman associated with Aaj TV, was killed in the blast.
An emergency was declared in hospitals across Quetta and several injured were shifted to other hospitals for treatment.
"This
was a security lapse," Balochistan Home Minister Sarfaraz Bugti said,
adding that he was personally investigating the attack. He said the
hospital had not received any threats in the past.
Following the blast in Quetta, Inspector General (IG) police A.D. Khawaja issued a high security alert across Sindh.
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.
“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 in a statement.
Lawyers targeted
Lawyers have been targeted several times in the last few months in Balochistan.
- A lawyer, Jahanzeb Alvi, was shot dead by unknown armed men in the Brewery road area of Quetta last week on Aug 3.
- Advocate Bilal Kasi, who himself was shot dead on the morning of Monday's blast, had strongly condemned the murder of Advocate Alvi and announced two days’ boycott of courts proceedings.
- 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.
Balochistan has been experiencing incidents of violence and
targeted killings for over a decade. More than 1,400 incidents targeting
the minority Shia and Hazara community have taken place in the province
during the past 15 years.
The largest province of the
country by area, is home to a low-level insurgency by ethnic Baloch
separatists. Al Qaeda-linked and sectarian militants also operate in the
region. The province shares borders with Afghanistan and Iran.
Facebook safety check
—Facebook
Social networking site Facebook activated its "safety check" feature after the blast in Quetta.
The
feature allows people to mark themselves or others 'safe' in any
incident or catastrophe, and let their loved ones know about their
state.
Volunteers use a stretcher to move an injured lawyer after the explosion.— AFP
Lawyers and local media personnel carry a bed to move the body of a news cameraman after the explosion.— AFP
0 comments:
Post a Comment