Khuzdar — At least 52 people including women and children have been killed and over 102 injured in an explosion that struck Dargah Shah Noorani during a ‘dhamal’ around Maghrib prayers, in Khuzdar district Saturday evening.
“52 people have died and dozens injured in the incident,” confirmed Balochistan Home Minister Mir Sarfaraz Ahmed Bugti. He also hinted towards foreign involvement in the attack. It was not confirmed whether the bombing was a suicide attack or a remote detonation.
Through its media wing Amaq, ISIS claimed responsibility for the blast on a Sufi shrine in the Lasbela district of Balochistan, 120 miles from Karachi, CNN reported.
According to police sources, it was a suicide attack carried out by a 14-year-old boy.
The target of the attack was a widely visited shrine where faithfuls were busy in performing dhamaal – a trance-like dance. The rough terrain site, a famous sufi worship place, is situated in Khuzdar district, some 250km away from Karachi.
Emergency has been declared in hospitals including the Civil Hospital, and the injured are being shifted for medical treatments. Security forces and rescue services have reached the spot of the incident.
COAS ordered for immediate maximum assistance for the victims
Gen Raheel Sharif has ordered troops of Pakistan Army to provide the victims of the blast with maximum assistance for evacuation and medical treatment, Director General ISPR Gen. Asim Saleem Bajwa said via tweets.
Gen. Bajwa said that 65 ambulances along with 6 army medical teams and troops have been sent for immediate services on the spot.
Shah Noorani Blast:Due difficult terrain/long distance,more time taken to reach.2 Med teams,50 soldiers&20 ambulances about to reach-2
— Gen Asim Bajwa (@AsimBajwaISPR) November 12, 2016
Shah Noorani Blast:Another 100 sldrs,4 med teams &45 ambulances also on their way.Sind Rangers ambulances&doctors also on their way-3
— Gen Asim Bajwa (@AsimBajwaISPR) November 12, 2016
Chief Minister Sindh Murad Ali Shah has ordered the concerned authorities to send 50 ambulances for rescue services in Khuzdar.
Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan expressed his griefs and urged government to send helicopters to Khuzdar. But DG ISPR has said that there is no landing strip for aircrafts in the area.
Shocked at blast in Khuzdar, Balochistan at shrine of Shah Noorani: terrible loss of life. Govt must immed send helis to this remote area
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) November 12, 2016
Shah Noorani Blast:Evacuation through aircraft not possible since no landing strip in area. Night Heli evacuation will be attempted-4
— Gen Asim Bajwa (@AsimBajwaISPR) November 12, 2016
Lack of facilities
No major hospital is located near the shrine and the injured would be shifted to hospitals in Lasbela, Khuzdar or Civil Hospital in Karachi as there are no medical facilities available in this mountainous area.
There are no communication services available in the area as it is a far flung region.
An emergency was also declared in hospitals of Khuzdar and Karachi. The only hospital in the district is Civil Hospital Khuzdar, which was not equipped to handle the scope of the emergency.
Earlier Attacks
In October, heavily-armed militants wearing suicide vests stormed a police academy in Quetta, killing at least 61 people and wounding at least 117.
Three gunmen burst into the sprawling academy, targeting sleeping quarters home to some 700 recruits, and sent terrified young men aged between 15 and 25 fleeing.
In August, a suicide bomber targeted the emergency services ward at Quetta’s Civil Hospital killing at least 70 people and leaving scores injured, majority of those killed were lawyers.
