Dozens killed and scores more wounded in blast at Shah Noorani Sufi shrine, north of Karachi

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

A bomb exploded at a shrine in Pakistan, killing dozens of people and injuring scores more, officials said. Islamic State later claimed responsibility for the attack.



Reports say 50 people were killed, with about 100 more wounded, although local media warned the death toll was likely to rise because of the large number of injured and the challenging nature of the rescue operation.



The bombing reportedly took place during prayers at the Sufi shrine of Shah Noorani, near Khuzdar, in a remote part of the troubled Balochistan province, and occurred while hundreds of people were inside, said local district commissioner Hashim Ghalzai.

The shrine is located in Balochistan province about 100 km (62 miles) north of the port city of Karachi, to where rescue official Hakeem Nasi told Geo TV dozens of wounded were being moved.

Local officials said eye witnesses had reported the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber who detonated explosives amid a 500-strong crowd that had crammed into the shrine to watch a devotional dance performance.

Lassi said the injured included many women and children, and casualty numbers were likely to rise because bodies were still caught under piles of trapped under the rubble.

Shafi Mohammad, a local government official from Dureji Tehsil, said crowds gather at the famous shrine each day to watch traditional Dhamal dancing, which attracts devotees from all over Balochistan and neighbouring Sindh.

“There has never been any threat in the past, but this is a very soft target for terrorists,” he said.

The relief operation was hindered by the isolated location of the shrine in an impoverished corner of Pakistan’s least developed province. One official said the only light in the area was being supplied by the shrine’s generator, which survived the blast.

About 20 ambulances dispatched from nearby districts took almost two hours to reach the scene, a local government official said.

Senator Hasil Khan Bizenjo, a government minister, said a helicopter had been requested to ferry the injured to Karachi.

Balochistan has seen repeated terrorist attacks, including the suicide bombing of a hospital in Quetta in August that killed at least 70 people, including a large number of lawyers who had gathered to mourn a colleague shot in a separate attack. Last month more than 50 people died in an attack on a police academy in the same city.