Pakistan blasts: Three days of mourning in Balochistan

Three days of mourning have been announced in the Pakistani province of Balochistan after a series of blasts in the provincial capital Quetta.

Most of the casualties were from twin blasts at a snooker hall which killed 81 people and injured more than 120.

Earlier, a bomb in a market area killed 11 people and injured 27 more.

The bombed area is predominantly Shia Muslim, and the Sunni extremist group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi said it had carried out the attack.

Many of the casualties at the snooker hall were caused by the second blast as police and media rushed to the scene.

"The second blast was a deafening one, and I fell down. I could hear cries and minutes later I saw ambulances taking the injured to the hospital," local resident Ghulam Abbas told the Associated Press.

A spokesman for another militant group, the United Baloch Army, said it had carried out the earlier attack.

Balochistan is plagued by both a separatist rebellion and sectarian infighting between Sunnis and Shias.

The Taliban and armed groups that support them also carry out attacks in the province, particularly in areas near the Afghan border. Pakistan's military has been engaged in a long-running battle against those militant groups.