The United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Saturday strongly condemned a series of deadly attacks targeting a bus, a hospital facility and a historic house in Pakistan, which killed at least 20 civilians, many of whom were female students.
Ban said no cause justifies such violence, and noted with dismay that "violence against women and educators has increased in recent years, the aim being to keep girls from attaining the basic right to education."
Several people including fourteen female students of a local university in Quetta, were killed when the bus they boarded to return home exploded on Saturday. The explosion was followed by a series of other explosions with militants holed up at the medical facility, where the injured were being treated, killed many more.
In another incident, militants fired a rocket that hit the Quaid Azam Residency in Ziarat, which is of historical importance and linked to Pakistan founder, Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
Ban urged the Pakistan government "to do all possible to bring the perpetrators to justice" and expressed the UN's solidarity "in the face of continued terrorist violence in Pakistan."
The Secretary-General also sent his condolences to the victims, their families, and the Government of Pakistan.
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