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Pakistan: Blast at Quetta hospital after lawyer killed

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A blast at the accident and emergency department of a hospital in Pakistan’s Quetta, where a group of mourning lawyers were gathered to accompany the body of a slain colleague, has killed and wounded several.

At least 30 people were killed in the blast on Monday, Quetta police chief Zahoor Afridi told Al Jazeera.

At least 30 others were wounded, Balochistan Home Minister Sarfaraz 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,” said Bugti.

According to an Al Jazeera reporter in Pakistan, the attack was carried out by a “suicide” bomber.

Many of the dead appeared to be wearing black suits and ties.

The lawyers were at the unit because earlier in the day armed men, who are still unidentified, had shot Bilal Anwar Kasi, reports said.

Kasi, who later succumbed to his injuries, was the former president of the Balochistan Bar Association. He had been on his way to work when gunmen attacked him.

Several people were wounded as they rushed to leave the hospital, Dawn reported.

Pakistani media said that journalists were among those wounded, with at least one cameraman killed. That cameraman was named by social media users as Aaj TV’s Shehzad Khan.

There were no immediate claims of responsibility for either attack.

Balochistan, which borders Iran and Afghanistan, has oil and gas resources but is afflicted by fighting, violence between Sunni and Shia Muslims, and a separatist rebellion.

Several lawyers were among those wounded in the blast hours after former Balochistan Bar President Bilal Anwar Kasi was killed [Al Jazeera] [Source: Al Jazeera and agencies]

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