IS claims blast that killed 72 at Sindh Sufi shrine

ISLAMABAD: In the eighth terror attack in Pakistan in last five days, 72 people were killed and 250 injured when a suicide bomber struck at the shrine of one of the country’s most famous Sufi saint, Lal Shabaz Qalandar, in Sehwan Sharif town of Sindh.
Lal Shahbaz Qalandar was a 12th century Sufi saint and a large number of devotees visit his shrine on Thursday, considered holy to pray at shrines.
Police said the attacker entered the shrine through its Golden gate and exploded the device he was wearing after hurling a grenade that failed to explode.
The blast occurred in the area where ‘dhamaal’ (a Sufi ritual) was being performed after evening prayers. Some media reports said that the Islamic State terror group claimed responsibility for the attack on their Aamaq news agency.
The outfit said a suicide bomber had targeted a “Shia gathering” at the shrine. The dead and injured were shifted to a hospital in Sehwan Sharif, from where many were taken to hospitals in Jamshoro and Hyderabad, the closest big city 140km from the shrine. “We have 53 bodies at the hospital and 47 among more than 250 injured are critical,” said Dr Moin, head of Sehwan hospital.
“The attack is a direct threat to Jinnah’s Pakistan and will be dealt as such... It’s an attack on the progressive and inclusive future of Pakistan. The Sufi people predate Pakistan’s history, and played an important part in the struggle for its formation,” said PM Nawaz Sharif. Pakistan’s army chief, General Qamar Bajwa, said, “Your security forces shall not allow hostile powers to succeed.”
A military spokesperson said terrorist acts were being executed on directions from hostile powers and sanctuaries in Afghanistan. Pakistani Taliban have also targeted Sufi shrines in the past.