A bus for a women’s university in Pakistan and the hospital that treated victims from the blast were bombed on Saturday, killing 14 students and 24 others at the hospital.
The bus was transporting female students and teachers from Sardar Bahadur Khan Women’s University in Quetta, located in the southwestern part of Pakistan. A homemade explosive device killed 14 of the passengers and injured 19 others. The victims were rushed to the nearby Bolan Medical Complex, where there was a second explosion. After the explosion, militants took nurses, doctors, and patient visitors, many of whom were visiting those hurt in the bus explosion, hostage. Security officials regained control of the hospital Saturday evening and reported that four of the five militants were killed and the fifth was in custody. It is unclear if the bus attack and the hospital siege are related.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and President Asif Ali Zardari both called the attacks “cowardly and inhuman.” “No effort will be spared to save Pakistan from such acts of terror,” Sharif continued. United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon also condemned the attacks, saying “violence against women and educators has increased in recent years. The aim being to keep girls from attaining a basic right to education.”
