Suicide bomber kills 70 at Pakistan hospital

A Taliban suicide bomb packed with ball bearings tore through a Pakistani hospital Monday and killed at least 70 people, as witnesses described tearful staff rushing towards the smoking blast site to help the wounded, reports AFP.

 

The  BBC report, however, said the dead are 63.

 

About 120 others were injured in the blast, which happened at the entrance to the emergency department where the body of a prominent lawyer shot dead earlier on Monday was being brought, according to BBC.

 

The casualties included lawyers and journalists accompanying the body of Bilal Anwar Kasi.

 

Gunfire followed the explosion. It was not clear who the attackers were.

 

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.

 

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif expressed his "deep grief and anguish", adding: "No-one will be allowed to disturb the peace of the province. The people, policy and security forces in Balochistan have given sacrifices for the country."

 

The president of Pakistan's Supreme Court Bar Association, Syed Ali Zafa, denounced the assault as "an attack on justice".

 

The Chief Minister of Balochistan, Sanaullah Zehri, said those injured should be given the best medical treatment and facilities available.