A suicide bomb attack at a hospital in Quetta has killed at least 70 people in South West Pakistan. Officials have also stated that a further 120 were
injured in one of Pakistan’s most deadly terrorist attacks.
The attack took place near the entrance to the hospitals emergency department where the body of a prominent lawyer Bilal Anwar Kasi who was killed
in a gun attack only hours earlier, was being brought out. Mourners had gathered to pay respects to their colleague and friend, many of them were from
the legal fraternity of Quetta and wider Pakistan.
A faction of the Pakistani Taliban named Jamaat-ul-Ahrar has already declared responsibility for the attack and for the murder of Mr Kasi who was
the President of the Balochistan Bar Association. He had vocally opposed the gun and bomb attacks on civilians and the targeting of lawyers by the
Taliban. In doing so Mr Kasi had made himself their main target and he has received many threats against his life.
On Monday morning 2nd August 2016 two unidentified men opened fire at Advocate Kasi’s car near Quetta’s Mengal Chowk on Manno Jan road as he left
his for the main court complex in Quetta. Mr Kasi died on his way to the hospital and huge media coverage led to a large gathering at the hospital
from visitors desiring to pay their last respects.
Christian Politicians have spoken out against this attack that comes only a five months after the attack in March by the same group targeting Christians.
MNA Asiya Nasir a Christian politician who hails from Quetta said: “I condemn the blast at Quetta Civil Hospital’s Emergency Department in the strongest possible terms. The causalities include a large number of lawyers and two journalists. May God comfort the families of those who have lost their lives in this heinous attack, and give wisdom and love for peace to those targeting innocent citizens.”
Federal Minister for Human Rights Kamran Michael also voiced grief over the loss of valuable lives. He denounced the killing of the President of Baluchistan
Bar Advocate Bilal Kasi, and condemned the bomb blast. He said: “This targeting of innocent Pakistani citizens is simply an act of evil, an atrocious act led by anti-Pakistan elements who must be stopped. The Pakistani nation is united against the scourge of terrorism, and all communities have already paid a heavy price owing to this malaise. The Government will pursue justice and strike against the terrorists.”
Wilson Chowdhry Chairman of the British Pakistani Christian Association, said:
“This attack shows little progress has been made since the bomb attack in Gulshan Park on Easter Day this year. Jamaat Ul Ahrar were responsible for that attack and many of their supporters were rounded up in the aftermath, but reactive policing inspires no-one.
Response to an attack simply serves to increase the death toll and violence meted out on innocent civilians in Pakistan – creating pain, anguish and
polarization. What the people wants is an incorruptible intelligence service that focuses on internal espionage that successfully thwarts such attacks.”
He added: “The nation’s instability can only be blamed on the Government of Pakistan who are failing to tackle ongoing extremism. Inculcation of hatred through the curriculum of Pakistan has created a nation of bigots, and extremists, who justify their actions based on a false ideology. Lack of a strong inspectorate for schools means that madrasser education and twisted ideologies have made recruitment of impressionable minds into extremist groups a simple operation.“
BPCA will be sending our team to meet with victims and their families to offer counselling and support. We ask our readers to pray for healing
of those injured and succour and peace for those who have lost loved ones.
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