Pakistan lawyers go on strike to protest against Quetta suicide attack
Officials said 60 of those 70 killed were advocates who had gathered at the hospital to mourn the assassination of Baluchistan Bar Association president.
Lawyers in Pakistan went on a nationwide strike on Tuesday after a suicide attack at a civil hospital in Quetta on Monday. Officials told Reuters that almost 60 of the 70 who died in the blast were lawyers who had gathered at the hospital to mourn the assassination of Baluchistan Bar Association President Bilal Anwar Kasi.
Supreme Court Bar President Ali Zafar called for the government act swiftly and protect lawyers. He said, "An attack on lawyers makes a mockery of the law enforcement agencies." Pakistan's Attorney General Ashtar Ausaf Ali also condemned the blast, calling the attackers "weak and pathetic" for targeting a hospital.
Meanwhile, Balochistan government spokesperson Anwar-ul-Haq Kakar said schools in the province would be shut on Tuesday. Officials said the total number of people wounded in the attack was 112, of which 27 are not in critical condition anymore, reported the Associated Press.
Both Jammat-ul-Ahrar and the Islamic State group have claimed responsibility for the attack. Earlier, Chief Minister of Balochistan Sanaullah Zehri accused India's intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing of carrying out the attack, while speaking to local channel Geo News.