Pakistani Taliban Splinter Group Claims Quetta Hospital Attack
The explosion occurred as mourners gathered to accompany the body of a prominent lawyer, who was shot and killed.
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Pakistani Taliban’s splinter group, Jama’tullhrar claimed responsibility for the attack in a hospital in Quetta which left at least 70 dead and over a 100 injured, even as the Quetta media put the death toll at 93.
Doctors warned that the death toll could increase as several injured are in serious condition.
A bomb explosion struck as mourners gathered in a hospital in Quetta to accompany the body of Bilal Anwar Kasi, a prominent lawyer, who was shot dead in the provincial capital earlier on Monday, police said.
Kasi, who was the president of Baluchistan Bar Association was killed while on his way to the city’s main court complex, senior police official Nadeem Shah said.
The subsequent suicide attack appeared to target his mourners, Anwar ul Haq Kakar, a spokesman for the Baluchistan government said.
Many of the dead appeared to be wearing black suits and ties.
As Balochistan, Pakistan’s biggest province by area, declared three days of mourning, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif flew to Quetta. Army chief Raheel Sharif visited the injured in the Civil Hospital.
Gen Sharif ordered intelligence agencies to initiate “special combing operations to target those involved in terror attacks”, a spokesperson for the military said.
Balochistan Chief Minister Sanaullah Zehri blamed the Indian intelligence agency RAW, saying it was responsible for incidents of terror in Quetta.
His comments came even before the police could say who was responsible for the horrific attack.
The Chief Minister of Punjab, Shehbaz Sharif and cricketer turned politician Imran Khan condemned the attack, calling it an act of those who are “bereft of humanity”.
Dozens of lawyers and journalists were present inside the hospital when the bomb went off.
Lawyers have been frequently targeted in Baluchistan.
One lawyer, Jahanzeb Alvi, was shot dead on 3 August. Kasi had condemned Alvi’s murder and announced a two-day boycott of courts.
The principal of University of Balochistan’s law college, Barrister Amanullah Achakzai, was also shot dead in June.
Police cordoned off the hospital following the blast.
Aside from a long-running separatist insurgency, and sectarian tensions, Baluchistan also suffers from rising crime.
Quetta has also long been regarded as a base for the Afghan Taliban, whose leadership has regularly held meetings there in the past.
(With IANS and Al Jazeera inputs.)
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