In Pakistan, lawyers have launched a three-day nationwide strike to mourn the deaths of dozens of their colleagues in a suicide bomb attack outside a hospital in Quetta Monday. At least 74 people were killed, and 120 more were wounded. The suicide bomber struck the hospital as lawyers and journalists had gathered to mourn the assassination of prominent lawyer Bilal Kasi, whose body was being brought in to the site when the attack occurred. One of the workers at the hospital described the scene.
Shakeel Gul: “As soon as I came out of the ward, I felt as if the end of the world had come. It was such a horrifying scene that I sat down in shock. Then we gathered courage and started picking up dead bodies. Things reached such a point that the mortuary got overfilled, and we had to put the rest of the bodies outside.”
A faction of the Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for Monday’s attack and for the murder of Bilal Kasi. We’ll have more on Pakistan after headlines.