At least 40 people are reported dead after a loud explosion occurred inside the Quetta Civil Hospital in Balochistan, Pakistan. Over 50 people are injured. Prior to the blast, former president of the Balochistan Bar Association Bilal Anwar Kasi was fatally shot by unidentified gunmen. He was taken to the hospital where the blast was heard.
Balochistan home minister Sarfraz Bugti said, “The blast occurred 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 early this morning.”
Kasi was attacked when he was on the way home. He succumbed to his injuries in hospital. No one has claimed either of the attacks.
Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, the current chief minister of the Punjab province, took to Twitter to condemn the attack.
Grieved on the loss of precious lives in a bomb blast in Quetta… My heart and sympathies are with the bereaved families…
— Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) August 8, 2016
Every sacrifice means that we have greater responsibility to eradicate the monster of terrorism with renewed resolve…
— Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) August 8, 2016
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif also condemned the attacks. “No one will be allowed to disturb the peace of the province,” he said. “The people, policy and security forces in Balochistan have given sacrifices for the country.”
Several lawyers have been targeted in the recent past.