The attacker blew himself up when a large number of people gathered outside the emergency ward of Quetta’s Civil Hospital to protest the killing of a member of the minority Shia community.
The Shia man identified as Arshad Zaidi, son of a prominent leader, was shot outside a bank and was shifted to the Civil Hospital who later died of wounds in hospital.
A large number of Shia religious leaders, protesters, policemen, reporters and TV cameramen were outside the hospital when the suicide attacker detonated his explosives around 10:15 am.
Malik Arif, a cameraman for Samaa news channel, and two policemen were among the dead. A reporter for the channel said Arif’s body was blown to pieces and his head severed. The reporter said he had also seen another severed head.
Four policemen, including a Deputy Superintendent of Police and four journalists, were among the injured, witnesses said. Geo TV reported that its reporter Salaman Asharf was also injured in the attack.Deputy Inspector General of Police Qazi Abdul Wahid confirmed that eight people were killed and 35 others injured. He said the attack was apparently carried out by a suicide bomber and was “sectarian” in nature.
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