QUETTA: Lawyers on Tuesday boycotted courts and staged protests nationwide after a horrific suicide bombing at a Quetta hospital, which killed 72 people, including many of their colleagues. The lawyers’ community had announced to boycott proceedings at courts, while black flags were hoisted on buildings of the Balochistan High Court and lower courts. Over in Hyderabad, lawyers wearing black armbands stayed away from courts and protested on the call of the Pakistan Bar Council and the Sindh Bar Council. Talking to the media Sindh High Court Bar Association (SHCBA) Hyderabad President Advocate Ayaz Tunio condemned the dastardly terrorist attack in Quetta and expressed solidarity with the affected people. Monday’s bloodletting, with medics battling to save scores of injured amid scenes of carnage, left the city reeling. Police stood guard on Tuesday at the Civil Hospital, where the bomb tore through a crowd of some 200 lawyers who had gathered there the other day to mourn the fatal shooting of a colleague. Scores of lawyers held rallies in major cities, including Islamabad, Karachi and Quetta. “It’s very tragic. Our seniors who were our intellectuals have been killed and may God reward them in heaven,” lawyer Ghulam Muhammad told AFP in Quetta. In Islamabad and Karachi, lawyers called for the authorities to protect civilians. “This is not a time to weep and cry, or lament. This is a time for practical steps,” said Sheikh Asmuddin in the capital. Meanwhile, funeral prayers in absentia were offered for the victims of the Quetta carnage at the District Bar Association (DBA) Faisalabad. Lawyers in Faisalabad also observe a weeklong mourning strike against the incident.