At least 13 people, including a senior judge, were on Saturday killed and several others injured in a suspected suicide bomb attack in a district court in Quetta, the capital of Pakistan's Balochistan province.
The explosion took place when a suspected suicide bomber entered the court premises and set off the bomb killing Additional Judge Abdul Wahid Durani and others, local television channels quoted eye witnesses as saying.
The bodies of 13 people were brought to the local hospital. Officials confirmed the death of 11, including the judge, ARY TV said.
The blast took place at the license branch of the court. Officials said they were investigating whether it was a suicide bomb blast, as a severed head, suspected to be of the bomber, had been recovered.
Pakistan has witnessed a series of suicide bomb blasts since January 26 apparently as backlash by pro-Taliban militants.
Balochistan has also been experiencing violent conflict between the security forces and Baloch nationalist rebels for the past few years. There are a number of camps in the southwest province which house lakhs of Baloch refugees.