BARONESS Royall of Blaisdon has flown into bomb-hit Pakistan amid rising tensions after a weekend of violence.

The shadow speaker of the House of Lords left her Blaisdon home for the terrorist-torn country on Saturday.

She arrived in Islamabad shortly after a bomb exploded in the city of Quetta killing at least 84 and injuring 169 people.

Since the latest attack by Sunni militants on the minority Shiite population, the country has been rocked by protests. As many as 4,000 women staged a sit-in at Quetta and are refusing to bury the dead.

Baroness Royall's visit to meet leading women's rights activists and politicians has already been disrupted after one high profile woman could not get through to meet them.

Yesterday, tensions were rising after Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf announced an operation.

Baroness Royall said: "I am in Islamabad where there are demonstrations. Clearly there are many, many security problems in the country which will make forthcoming elections even more challenging than usual."