A whole generation killed: Balochistan's young lawyer explains the true scale of Quetta attack

QUETTA (Staff Report) - While Pakistan is mourning Monday's deadly blast which killed over 70 people, an in-depth review of the loss suggests that a whole generation of the Quetta lawyers has been wiped off the scene.

A young lawyer, Barkhurdar Khan, who somehow managed to survive, described the dire situation of humanistic loss saying "Every lawyer that has ever given me a lift home is dead, except for one۔"

Every lawyer that has ever given me a lift home is dead, except for one, Naveed Qambrani, he is critical and was airlifted to Karachi...

— Barkhurdar Khan (@BarkhurdarAchak) August 9, 2016

Another lawyer shared a tweet to describe the damage:

They killed them all !! #QuettaBlast pic.twitter.com/5aTgc1krlN

— Harris. (@harispe2) August 9, 2016

Sharing more details about the top lawyers killed in the terrorist attack which has been claimed by both Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the Middle East based Islamic State militant group, Barkhurdar Khan tweeted:

To put the magnitude of destruction into perspective, I got my law license back in 2010, joined Balochistan Bar last year in September...

— Barkhurdar Khan (@BarkhurdarAchak) August 8, 2016

To put the magnitude of destruction into perspective, I got my law license back in 2010, joined Balochistan Bar last year in September...

— Barkhurdar Khan (@BarkhurdarAchak) August 8, 2016

Batch are now in the top 100 practicing lawyers both in terms of standing and seniority. Let that sink in for a moment. All, I repeat ALL..

— Barkhurdar Khan (@BarkhurdarAchak) August 8, 2016

Senior practicing lawyers and Barristers died today. My senior Barrister Adnan Kasi passed away and the rest of the associates in our...

— Barkhurdar Khan (@BarkhurdarAchak) August 8, 2016

Chamber are either dead, injured or missing as of yet. That's about the level of loss in terms of body count and professional experience...

— Barkhurdar Khan (@BarkhurdarAchak) August 8, 2016

The number of junior lawyers, who are the sole bread winners of their homes and who are now unemployed runs into hundreds. Most of those...

— Barkhurdar Khan (@BarkhurdarAchak) August 8, 2016

Who died Were first gen educated.

— Barkhurdar Khan (@BarkhurdarAchak) August 8, 2016

He further added:

To add to my yesterday's thread. The destruction keeps on unfolding. Early in the morning I came to know about the death of another....

— Barkhurdar Khan (@BarkhurdarAchak) August 9, 2016

Associate in our chamber. Ghulam Muhammad. He had been a lawyer's clerk for 12 years. Only recently completed his LLB and joined our ranks..

— Barkhurdar Khan (@BarkhurdarAchak) August 9, 2016

He started his own office with Imran Sheikh, also deceased, a jolly fellow who narrated his jokes in the mixed up Pashto he had learnt but..

— Barkhurdar Khan (@BarkhurdarAchak) August 9, 2016

Punjabi was reserved for his slurs and abuses. I went to their faateha today. The scenes of misery and loss cannot be put into words..

— Barkhurdar Khan (@BarkhurdarAchak) August 9, 2016

The bent shoulders of their fathers, the broken backs of their brothers. Their kids, still oblivious to their own loss, playing and hoping..

— Barkhurdar Khan (@BarkhurdarAchak) August 9, 2016

That dad will return soon. I don't know.. There are 3 dead or injured in Every gathering of 5 that I had been part of and can remember...

— Barkhurdar Khan (@BarkhurdarAchak) August 9, 2016

And that:

Every lawyer that has ever given me a lift home is dead, except for one, Naveed Qambrani, he is critical and was airlifted to Karachi...

— Barkhurdar Khan (@BarkhurdarAchak) August 9, 2016

The news of his well being still not clear and his fiancé of 2 weeks mourning the life that didn't even begin. Out of the five lawyers who..

— Barkhurdar Khan (@BarkhurdarAchak) August 9, 2016

Had obtained High court license, three are dead, one critically injured and one is narrating the horrible story on Twitter. I applied to...

— Barkhurdar Khan (@BarkhurdarAchak) August 9, 2016

Two chambers before I joined Legis Law Firm. The heads of all three firms, Barrister Adnan Kasi, Adv. Qahir Shah and Adv. Bilal Anwar Kasi..

— Barkhurdar Khan (@BarkhurdarAchak) August 9, 2016

Are now dead. Heart wrenching is an understatement.

— Barkhurdar Khan (@BarkhurdarAchak) August 9, 2016

It is also worth mentioning here that Monday's blast took place immediately after the Balochistan Bar Association president, Bilal Anwar Kasi, was gunned down by unidentified assailants and his body was brought to Civil Hospital, Quetta.

In a similar incident in June this year, University Law College Quetta principal Barrister Amanullah Achakzai was also murdered when unidentified assailants targeted him in Quetta’s Spinny Road area. He was on his way to work when attacked.

In the last 15 years alone, over 1,400 incidents of targeted killings have taken place in Balochistan, including several  major suicide blasts which mainly targeted Hazara community of the province.