UNITED NATIONS: UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon “strongly” condemned the bomb blast in southwestern Pakistan that killed 81 people, calling on authorities there to act quickly against those responsible, his spokesman Martin Nesirky said Sunday.

Noting that this is the second attack against the Shia community in Quetta in the last few weeks, Ban “calls for swift and determined action against those claiming responsibility and perpetrating such actions,” Nesirky said in a statement.

He “reiterates the strong support of the United Nations for efforts by the Government and people of Pakistan to protect religious and ethnic minorities and to combat the scourge of terrorism,” the spokesman added.