Miscellaneous claims surface after deadly Quetta bombing

QUETTA/KARACHI: Three different claims have surfaced pertaining to the deadly suicide bombing in Quetta that left 70 people dead and wounded as many as 112 others on Monday pushing the nation in shock and grief.

Global terror outfit Daesh (Islamic State) and Jamaatul Ahrar, a splinter group of Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), both claimed responsibility for the bombing.

It was not immediately clear as to which group actually carried out the bombing, for they are also believed to have claimed responsibility for attacks in the past they were not involved in.

Balochistan CM Sanaullah Zehri, shortly after the tragic incident, had claimed that the Indian spy agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) was involved in the attack. He added that it was a suicide attack.

Zehri said that the terrorists were attacking soft targets. "Even in times of war no one attacks a hospital," he said, while resolving to root out terrorists.

Further investigations into the incident continue.

The explosion took place when Balochistan Bar Association President Bilal Kasi's body was being brought to the emergency department. Police said that unknown men opened fire after the blast.

Panic tore through the hospital after the blast near the emergency department of the hospital. Hospital officials confirmed the death toll.

The blast sent shock waves across the country prompting civil-military leadership to reach the provincial capital to console bereaved relatives of the victims and the wounded.