WARNING: Graphic content

AN Islamic State suicide bomber has killed at least 75 people in the deadliest attack to hit Pakistan in months.

The bomber entered the main hall of the shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sehwan and detonated his payload amid dozens of worshippers, according to three security officials.

At least 20 women and nine children were among the dead.

Fazal Palejo, a senior health official in Sindh province, confirmed the toll.

The Islamic State group claimed the attack in a statement circulated by its Aamaq news agency, saying it had targeted a “Shiite gathering”.

The Sunni extremist group views Shiites as apostates and has targeted Pakistan’s Shiite minority in the past. It views Sufi shrines like the one targeted on Thursday as a form of idolatry.

Raja Somro, who witnessed the attack, told a local TV network that hundreds of people were performing a spiritual dance known as the Dhamal when the bomber struck.

“I saw bodies everywhere. I saw bodies of women and children,” he said.

Local TV showed graphic footage of the aftermath of the blast, with wounded worshippers crying out for help and the floors covered with shoes, blood and body parts.

Women cried and beat their chests in grief.

Ghazanfar Shah, the custodian of the site, said security was lax at the shrine, which is entered through two gold-plated doors.

‘LIKE JUDGEMENT DAY’

Local resident Haq Nawaz Khan Solangi said he and his friends were sipping tea at a stall some distance from the shrine when they heard the blast but thought it could be a tyre bursting.

“But soon our phones started ringing that there was a bomb blast at shrine and we rushed towards it,” he said.

“When we reached there, we thought that it was the judgement day as bodies were lying everywhere in the pool of blood.

“Some bodies had no heads, limbs or feet and those who were wounded were crying with pain and calling for help.”

CALLS FOR VENGEANCE

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif vowed that security forces would track down the perpetrators of the attack, according to Pakistani state TV.

“Each drop of the nation’s blood shall be avenged, and avenged immediately,” Pakistan’s army chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, said in a statement.

“No more restraint for anyone.”

The US State Department condemned the attack and offered its support to Pakistan in bringing the perpetrators to justice.

“We stand with the people of Pakistan in their fight against terrorism and remain committed to the security of the South Asia region,” said a statement by acting State Department spokesman Mark Toner.

US ambassador David Hale said in a statement the attack was cowardly while the European Union expressed its condolences to the victims.

“To attack peaceful worshippers in one of their sacred spaces is shameful and cowardly,” Mr Hale said.

Pakistanis vented their anger and grief on social media, with users calling the shrine a “capital of spirituality” and a “seat of interfaith harmony”.

OPTIMISM UNDERMINED

Pakistan has seen a dramatic improvement in security in the past two years, but a series of attacks this week — most claimed by the Pakistani Taliban — has undermined the growing sense of optimism.

Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a faction of the Pakistani Taliban, said it had carried out a suicide bombing in Lahore which killed 13 people and wounded dozens more Monday, days after the group had vowed to launch a fresh offensive.

The attack was the deadliest in Pakistan since December 16, 2014, when militants assaulted an army-run school in Peshawar, killing 154 people, mostly schoolchildren.

Pakistan has been at war with the Taliban and other extremist groups for more than a decade.

In recent years it has launched major offensives against militant strongholds in the tribal regions along the border with Afghanistan, but insurgents have continued to carry out attacks elsewhere in the country.

The Islamic State group has been expanding its presence in Pakistan in recent years and has claimed a number of deadly attacks, including a suicide bombing at another shrine in November 2016 that killed more than 50 people.

The government has downplayed the IS affiliate, insisting that only a small number of militants have pledged allegiance to the group.

Afghanistan and Pakistan have long accused each other of failing to crack down on militants who operate along the porous border.

The army spokesman, Major General Asif Ghafoor, said acts of terrorism were being carried out “from hostile powers and from sanctuaries in Afghanistan,” without elaborating.

Pakistan closed the main Torkham border crossing with Afghanistan shortly after the attack.

— with AP