Pakistan lawyers boycott courts after blast

The national flag flew at half-mast as the government announced a national mourning. A suicide bomber yesterday struck 200 lawyers who had gathered outside the emergency ward of civil hospital in Quetta after a senior lawyer was shot dead, killing at least 70 people, including 40 lawyers. The attack also left close to 150 people injured. Taliban’s Jamaatul Ahrar faction and Islamic State extremists claimed responsibility for the attack. 

Pakistan Bar Council in a statement said, “Lawyers will boycott court proceedings in protest against the killing of lawyers in Quetta on Monday.” The lawyers boycotted all courts in the country while observing mourning for their colleagues. They held demonstrations in major cities including Islamabad, Karachi and Quetta wearing black arm bands and chanted slogans against terrorism. In Quetta, all businesses were closed to mourn the victims. 

Two photo journalists were among those killed and media organisations strongly protested the killings and demanded protection for journalists. Police said that most of the victims were buried on Monday while dead bodies of those belonged to far flung areas were sent to their homes to be buried at their native places.