A suicide bomber in the city of Quetta in western Pakistan has killed at least 63 people and injured more than 100 others.
The attacker blew himself up in the emergency ward of Civil Hospital, NPR’s Abdul Sattar reports.
“Most of the victims are lawyers, journalists and common citizens,” Abdul says.
Quetta is the capital of the province of Baluchistan, which is home to a number of militant groups, according to Abdul. The Quetta Shura, a group of leaders of the Afghan Taliban, is believed to be based in the city.
“A few months ago, Taliban chief Mullah Akhter Mansour was also killed in this province,” he reports. “Baluchistan has witnessed a number of terrorist attacks in the last 12 years, most of which targeted the Shiite community of the province.”
Earlier on Monday, the body of a prominent Quetta lawyer had been brought to the government-run hospital. The lawyer, Bilal Kasi, had been shot on his way to court. A number of his colleagues had arrived at the hospital to express their condolences and grief.
One lawyer told The Associated Press that when he arrived to join the mourners, he saw dozens of lawyers killed or wounded in the suicide attack.
A witness told the wire service that there were “bodies everywhere” after the explosion. Waliur Rehman said the bomb was so powerful that he and his sick father — making their way to the emergency ward, but still about 200 yards away — were knocked down by the blast.
No group so far has claimed responsibility for Monday’s attack, the AP reports.
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