Quetta hospital blast has Pakistan bleed by a thousand cuts, world mourns
Terror scars Pakistan again, as a suicide bomb attack killed at least 70 people at a hospital in Quetta, Balochistan, in south-west part of the country.
At least 120 others were injured in the blast, which occured at the Quetta Civil Hospital, as a group of journalists and lawyers belonging to Balochistan Bar Association had gathered at the entrance to the emergency department where the body of a prominent lawyer - Bilal Anwar Kasi, shot dead earlier on Monday - was being brought.
#QuettaBlast: former bar president, media person among 40 dead #Quetta https://t.co/ic1txFap0O pic.twitter.com/VxKd9r8guT
— Daily Times (@DailyTimes_DT) August 8, 2016
Among those targeted at #Quetta we loose another brother from the legal fraternity. #QuettaBlast pic.twitter.com/ZHJX1yHuc0
— Saira Mehreen Abbasi (@Saira_M_Abbasi) August 8, 2016
#QuettaBlast: So many people were killed after a suicide bomber targeted a gathering of lawyers in #Quetta,... https://t.co/VBOSOMFyGe
— Aziz Basam (@AzizBasam) August 8, 2016
#QuettaBlast - The enemy hits the defenseless. pic.twitter.com/px57M03Pt3
— Pakistan Defence (@defencepk) August 8, 2016
A faction of the Pakistani Taliban - Jamaat-ul-Ahrar - has said it was behind the bombing, though the Balochistan chief minister, Sanaullah Zehri, has "blamed RAW" (India's Research and Analysis Wing) in a despicable display of insensitive blamegame.
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| Mostly lawyers belonging to Balochistan Bar Association have been killed in the deadly Quetta blast that has claimed 70 lives. [Photo: Agencies] |
Pakistani political establishment has unanimously condemned the attack, with prime minister Nawaz Sharif and chief of army staff Gen Raheel Sharif visiting Quetta for security briefing and assessment of the massive intelligence failure.
Attack on Baluchistan is an attack on the hearts & spirits of those who want to see Pak united. Praying for our brothers, the victims.
— Maryam Nawaz Sharif (@MaryamNSharif) August 8, 2016
Condemnable cowardly terrorists strike Quetta targeting bar president then civil hospital. Even in war hospitals not delib targeted.
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) August 8, 2016
Our counter terrorism strategy is a farce. As victim of terrorism myself the fact that the state has made a mockery of this issue disgust me
— BilawalBhuttoZardari (@BBhuttoZardari) August 8, 2016
Condemning the #QuettaBlast is not enough. Balochistan needs attention immediately. Where is #NAP?Govt's counterterror plan is in shambles
— SenatorSherryRehman (@sherryrehman) August 8, 2016
Jamaat-ul-Ahrar first gunned down Kasi, president of the Balochistan Bar Association, who was on his way from his home to the main court complex in Quetta. Then it carried out a lethal targeted suicide attack at the very hospital where he was brought and pronounced deal.There was absolute mayhem and bloodshed at the hospital blast, with "bodies everywhere" and survivors screaming for help in pain amid the dust and gore.
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| Civil hospital targeted in Quetta blast was seeing a gathering of lawyers and journalists who were mourning the daylight murder of senior lawyer Bilal Anwar Kasi. [Photo: Agencies] |
Today's bombing of a hospital in Pakistan is despicable. We have to stand up against terror and come together to prevent these attacks. -H
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) August 8, 2016
Meanwhile, outrage is pouring into Twitter, with Pakistani social media, as well as the global Twitterati condemning the attack in no uncertain terms.
#Balochistan Home Minister says he is having the #QuettaBlast "personally investigated". Acha. Dozens killed. https://t.co/MEyeVvRbGV
— Mehreen Zahra-Malik (@mehreenzahra) August 8, 2016
I am saddened and shocked on #QuettaBlast Baz Muhammad Kakar met me just few days ago in Islamabad I can't forget his smiling face
— Hamid Mir (@HamidMirGEO) August 8, 2016
Terror 2 go on til army doesn't change jihad policy.Seeing jihadi fund camps again everywhere #Quetta #QuettaBlast https://t.co/TsvRtdOKGz
— Irfan Aslam (@IrfaanAslam) August 8, 2016
Brutality with a method is not insanity. It’s a calculated crime against everything which stands for humanity and sanity. #QuettaBlast
— NadeemFarooqParacha (@NadeemfParacha) August 8, 2016
#QuettaBlast also killed media worker Shehzad Khan (Cameraman for @aaj_urdu ).#RIP and prayers for the family. pic.twitter.com/WvlKgGZ41v
— Raza Ahmad Rumi (@Razarumi) August 8, 2016
#QuettaBlast revised death toll 70 | deepest condolences to the friends on TL bereaving friends. What a carnage https://t.co/LfDrCMMjWI
— Mohammad Taqi (@mazdaki) August 8, 2016
Many pointed out the reprehensible blame-game of Pakistani establishment, while ignoring the massive loopholes in their own intelligence gathering and military industrial complex.
They keep blaming the blowback of their misdeeds & strategic blunders on imaginary conspiracies#QuettaBlast https://t.co/jwI48yxaBK
— Mohammad Taqi (@mazdaki) August 8, 2016
#QuettaBlast in a hospital 'abhorrent disregard for the sanctity of life' says @amnestypress https://t.co/UUfkL2bJup pic.twitter.com/GW9nT7dBX1
— Raza Ahmad Rumi (@Razarumi) August 8, 2016
A friend's batchmate lost 10 relatives in today's Quetta blast who were there to mourn the death of their cousin shot dead in the morning
— Umer Ali (@IamUmer1) August 8, 2016
Chief of army staff, Raheel Sharif, was criticised for "behaving like a politico" and making appearances at the blast site.
Why is COAS behaving like a politico? Shouldn't he be focused on explaining state's failure to provide security? https://t.co/jqq4pNDDis
— Babar Sattar (@Babar_Sattar) August 8, 2016
Mediapersons lost in the attack included the 30-year-old Shahzad Khan of Aaj TV.
A very dearest friend Cameraman of Aaj Tv Shahzad Khan among the 40 murdered in#Quettasuicidebombing. pic.twitter.com/vY5t14sAtA
— Shezad Baloch (@Shezadbaloch) August 8, 2016
CM of Balochistan was quoted on Twitter and that sparked some worthless consiracy theories that incited hatred afresh.
#QuettaBlast :- "I have such evidences against RAW that can't be negated - CM Balochistanhttps://t.co/YyMRRjZn2e pic.twitter.com/orBl8a71Nf
— Ali Nawaz™ (@toxic_game) August 8, 2016
#انڈیا_کا_بائیکاٹ_کرو India is behind every single destabilization movement in Pakistan India Murdabad #Quetta #QuettaBlast
— Muhammad Mansha Dar (@M_Mansha143) August 8, 2016
Journalists, who have been demanding better protection from terrorists, staged a demonstration at the Islamabad press club.
Journalists stage a protest against bomb blast in quetta, outside national press club Islamabad. #QuettaBlast pic.twitter.com/te1TmKwfq3
— Javeria Siddique (@javerias) August 8, 2016
Quetta has been dealing with targeted attacks on journalists and lawyers, and Jamaat-ul-Ahrar has been responsible for a number of them.
Bilal Anwar Kasi had in fact strongly condemned the targeting of lawyers and journalists who were critical of the ongoing atrocities in Balochistan by terrorist factions.
The president of Pakistan's Supreme Court Bar Association, Syed Ali Zafa, condemned the blast "an attack on justice", while the Pakistan Bar Council has called for a nationwide strike by lawyers on Tuesday.