49 Martyred in Blast at Mosque in Southern Pakistan

Local Editor

The latest sectarian attack to hit the South Asian nation caused the martyrdom of at least 49 people in a powerful explosion at a crowded Shi'ite mosque in Pakistan during Friday prayers.

Police said the blast was caused either by a suicide bomber or an explosive device which went off when the mosque was at its fullest on Friday afternoon in the center of Shikarpur, a city in Pakistan's southern province of Sindh.

Extremist groups often target mosques frequented by Pakistani civilians. Earlier this month, six people were martyred and 17 injured by a suicide bomber outside a mosque in the city of Rawalpindi, also after Friday prayers.

Shikarpur police Chief Saqib Ismail Memon stated, "We are trying to ascertain the nature of the blast". He added, "A bomb disposal squad is examining the scene".
In chaotic scenes that followed the blast, part of the mosque collapsed after the explosion, burying some of the wounded under rubble. Bystanders pulled people from the debris and piled them into cars for the journey to hospital.

Locals said there were not enough ambulances and the army later sent additional vehicles to transport people to hospitals.

After the explosion, the atmosphere was tense in Shikarpur, with shops boarded up and crowds of emotional residents massing outside hospitals.

Pariyal Marri, a local resident described the situation saying: "The entire city is in lockdown and there is tension in the air. There is a heavy police presence and the Rangers are patrolling the city".

The atmosphere was tense in Shikarpur after the explosion, with shops boarded up and crowds of emotional residents massing outside hospitals.

The so-called Jundullah, a splinter group of Pakistan's Taliban which last year pledged support for the "ISIL" group based in Syria and Iraq, claimed responsibility.

Fahad Marwat, a Jundullah spokesman stated without elaboration, "Our target was the Shia mosque ... They are our enemies".
 
Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen called for a province-wide strike on Saturday in protest.

Sain Rakhio Merani, a regional police official, said the blast was probably caused by a bomb, although Pakistani television quoted some residents as saying they saw a man wearing a suicide vest.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team