SHIKARPUR, Pakistan: At least 60 persons including children were killed while 60 others others injured in a blast that ripped through an Imambargah in Shikarpur district of Sindh on Friday.
The banned Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) splinter group Jandullah claimed responsibility for the Shikarpur blast, according to Reuters.
“Our target was the Shia mosque … They are our enemies,” a Jundullah spokesman Fahad Marwat said.
The blast took place in the Lakhi Dar area of Shikarpur when the Friday sermon was being read.
The sources said that the roof of the Imambargah collapsed due to the blast, adding that a number of victims were trapped under debris.
The SSP Shikarpur Saqib Ismail told media that the nature of the blast could not be ascertained as yet.
The victims were shifted to Civil Hospital Shikarpur while according to the Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon, an emergency had been imposed at all hospitals in Shikarpur and surrounding talukas and cities.
Meanwhile, President Mamnoon Hussain, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Chief Altaf Hussain strongly condemned the Shikarpur blast. They expressed condolence with the bereaved families.
The prime minister directed for provision of best medical facilities to the injured, and also sought a report of the incident.
The Chief Minister Sindh Syed Qaim Ali Shah announced to observe one-day mourning on Shikarpur tragic bomb incident. He also advised the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) members of Sindh assembly to wear black bandages on their arms as a mark of protest against the incident.
The Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen Pakistan (MWM), Shia Ulema Council, Tahafuz-e-Azadari Council also announced a three-day mourning over the Shikarpur blast.
It was the second blast this month that targeted an Imambargah as earlier on January 9 as well, a blast occurred outside an Imambargah in Chittian Huttian area of Rawalpindi when a Mehfil-e- Eid Milad-un-Nabi (SAWW) was taking place there.
