ISIS Bombing at Pakistan Shrine that Killed at least 52

QUETTA: At least 52 people died and more than 100 others were injured Saturday in a bomb blast at a remote Sufi shrine in Pakistan, officials said, with the ISIS claiming the attack.

The blast hit worshippers participating in a ceremony at the shrine of the Sufi saint Shah Noorani, some 750 km south of Quetta, the provincial capital of restive southern Balochistan province.

"At least 52 people have been killed and some 105 others wounded," provincial Home Minister Sarfraz Bugti told AFP, adding that there were women and children among the victims. Local officials said worshippers were taking part in a devotional dance session, which is held daily before dusk, when the blast occurred.

Authorities said they had dispatched ambulances and medical workers from Karachi, a three-hour drive from the shrine -- which is located in a remote, mountainous region with limited emergency facilities.

The shrine is revered and visited both by minority Shia and Sunni Muslims, but militant groups like the Taliban and ISIS consider the practice against Islam. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack via its affiliated news agency Amaq, saying that a suicide bomber targeting the shrine had killed around 35 people and injured 95 others.

But the provincial home minister said it was not immediately clear whether this was a suicide attack.

Hafeez Ali, a 26-year-old mechanic from Karachi, said he was sitting on a hillside and watching the evening's dance to drumbeat when he heard a loud noise and saw smoke rising. "We realised that it was a bomb blast. Two of us rushed down and saw the bodies scattered all around -- mostly children. We also saw the drum beater dead and his exploded drum was lying nearby," Ali told AFP.

Ali said the shrine sits on a hill which devotees have to climb for half an hour as no road goes there, causing difficulties for rescuers.

Source: NDTV

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