At least thirteen people including a judge and several lawyers were killed in a powerful bomb blast that ripped through the licence branch of the district courts in Pakistani city of Quetta, bordering Afghanistan, police said. More than two dozens of persons mostly lawyers and court officials were injured in the explosion when the district courts were crowded, Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao told the reporters in Islamabad. Senior Civil Judge Wahid Ali Durrani was among those killed in the blast. Quetta police chief Azhar Farooqi stated that it was premature to talk about the nature of the bomb. A large crater was created at the place of the explosion, he said. The explosive device went off outside the chamber of Judge Durrani. The Quetta administration declared emergency in city hospitals where dead bodies and the injured persons were rushed. Law enforcement agencies and police have cordoned off the place of explosion.
