16 Jun 2013

Day of mourning declared after double attack in Pakistan

8:16 pm on 16 June 2013

A day of official mourning has been declared in the Pakistani city of Quetta, after 25 people were killed by gunmen in two attacks on female students, and staff in the hospital that was treating them.

A day of mourning is also being observed in Balochistan.

A bomb on a bus killed 14 female students and injured 22 and militants attacked a hospital treating survivors, where they killed another 11 people.

Four attackers were also killed and one arrested, officials say.

The BBC reports there is no clear motive for the attack has yet been established but a Sunni Muslim militant group is being blamed.

Funerals are being planned for the victims of the attack while an official day of mourning is being observed across the province of Balochistan, of which Quetta is capital.

Saturday's bloodshed began when a bomb exploded on a bus carrying students at Sardar Bahadur Khan Women's University.

When survivors were brought to a medical centre, suspected suicide bombers stormed the building and started shooting indiscriminately.

A five-hour stand-off between the militants and security forces left nurses, security personnel and a senior city official dead.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon condemned the attacks in a statement, saying no cause could justify such violence.