Quetta attack: Intelligence agencies working to defeat enemy designs, says Pak PM Nawaz Sharif

Islamabad: Pakistan's intelligence agencies are working hard to defeat the designs of enemies and eradicate the menace of terrorism, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said on Wednesday, two days after 74 people were killed in a deadly suicide bombing at a hospital in Quetta.

Addressing the National Assembly Sharif said the mindset behind the Quetta attack was the same one that had targeted Pakistanis in numerous terrorist attacks in the past.

"This incident [Quetta attack] was properly planned," he said, adding that "such a mindset does not want peace in the country, especially in Balochistan".

He said Pakistan's intelligence agencies are working day and night to defeat the designs of the country's enemies.

"Pakistan's military and political leadership are on the same page to eradicate the menace of terrorism," Dawn newspaper quoted him as saying.

"We will put to rest all these challenges."

Sharif's address to the National Assembly comes a day after Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) chief Mahmood Khan Achakzai asked the Prime Minister to sack officers from the security and intelligence agencies if they fail to trace out the elements involved in the deadly Quetta attack.

The PkMAP chief had termed the Quetta attack an intelligence failure and had demanded to fix the responsibility of the blast in a debate held on the subject in the National Assembly.

He had asked the premier to "act as the real chief executive and take bold decisions".

At least 74 people were killed on Monday and over 100 injured after a suicide bomber struck the emergency ward of Quetta's Civil Hospital, where scores of people had gathered to mourn the death of Balochistan Bar Association (BBA) president Bilal Anwar Kasi in a gun attack earlier in the day.

The attack was claimed by Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan splinter outfit Jamaatul Ahrar and the Islamic State militant group.