UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon strongly condemned on Saturday's "heinous" attacks in Quetta and Ziarat that killed at least twenty civilians and injured many more, and called on the Pakistani government to bring the perpetrators to justice. "He (the UN chief) deplores the heinous nature of the attacks on a university bus carrying women students and educators and a hospital facility, as well as the heritage Quaid Azam Residency which has a historical importance as a former home of Muhammad Ali Jinnah," his spokesman said in a statement issued at UN Headquarters in New York,
"No cause can justify such violence," the statement said. "The Secretary-General notes 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.
"The Secretary-General sends his condolences to the victims, their families, and the Government of Pakistan. He calls on the government to do all possible to bring the perpetrators to justice. He expresses the unstinting solidarity of the United Nations in the face of continued terrorist violence in Pakistan," the statement added.