Death toll of suicide attack on Pakistan hospital rises to 63

At least 63 people died and dozens were injured Monday in a suicide bomb attack at a hospital in Quetta, in western Pakistan, police sources told EFE.

Police spokesperson in the province, Ghulam Akbar, said at least 63 people were killed in “a strong blast” in the Quetta Civil Hospital, where a little earlier, Baluchistan Bar president Bilal Anwar Kasi had been taken after he was shot dead by unidentified men.

Besides the explosion, a shootout also occurred at the health center, where many lawyers had gathered following the attack on Kasi.

Baluchistan Chief Minister Sanaullah Zehri told Geo broadcaster that it was a “planned” suicide attack that coordinated with the attack against Kasi and the arrival of the other lawyers to the hospital.

He added no one has claimed the attack as yet and that the insurgents were focusing on soft targets.

Following the explosion, a state of emergency has been declared at all the hospitals across the city.

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif condemned the attacks in a statement in which he vowed “no one will be allowed to disturb the peace.”

In recent months, several lawyers have been attacked in Baluchistan, where separatist armed groups, besides factions of the Taliban and jihadist groups, are known to operate and attack security forces and other state institutions.

Less than a week ago, lawyer Jahanzeb Alvi was murdered by unidentified assailants, and in June, Law College principal Amanullah Achakzai was also gunned down.

These incidents come amid significant reduction in the number of attacks in Pakistan since the army launched an antiterrorist operation in June 2014, in which at least 3,400 insurgents and 488 troops have died, according to data that is yet to be independently verified.