At least 70 people have been killed in a suicide bombing at a hospital in southwest Pakistan, Sky News reports.

Dozens of other people were injured in the explosion, which happened in the grounds of a government-run hospital in Quetta.

The attacker targeted mourners that had gathered as the body of a prominent lawyer, who murdered earlier on Monday, Bilal Kasi, was being brought in.

Lawyers and journalists were among the dead while about 120 people were injured.

A breakaway faction of the Pakistani Taliban, Jamaat ul Ahrar, has claimed responsibility for the bombing and the killing of lawyer Bilal Kasi, who was shot dead on Monday morning by two gunmen.

A spokesperson for Jamaat ul Ahrar has vowed more terror attacks “until the imposition of an Islamic system in Pakistan,” AFP reports.

The explosion took place shortly after the Kasi’s was taken to the hospital.

The remains of the suicide attacker have been found at the scene, senior police officer Zahoor Ahmed Afridi added.