Pakistan: lawyers mourn colleagues killed in bomb blast

On Monday a suicide bomb blast killed 67 people and injured a further 100 at a hospital in Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan. The blast is reported to have deliberately targeted lawyers mourning the death of a colleague, Bilal Kasi , the president of the the Balochistan bar, who was shot dead as he left for work earlier that day.

Lawyer Jameel Ahmed, 48, said he went to the hospital after hearing about Mr Kasi, adding that he thought the plan was to ensnare lawyers.

He explained: “I think the terrorists planned it so – they knew that lawyers would gather in large numbers at the hospital after the killing of Kasi, and so they sent a bomber to attack.”

Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a breakaway faction of the Pakistani Taliban, and so-called Islamic State both claim to have been behind the blast.

Supreme Court Bar Association president Ali Zafar said: “We have been targeted because we always raise our voice for people’s rights and for democracy.

“Lawyers will not just protest this attack, but also prepare a long-term plan of action.”