News Desk/Ali Bhai Kamran
SEHWAN/KARACHI
A suicide bomber attacked the crowded Sufi shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sehwan on Thursday, with police sources stating that the death toll had risen to over 50.
Government and police officials said over 100 people have been injured in the attack, which took place as a dhamaal was taking place at the shrine. A large number of women and children were said to be among the casualties.
Police officials in Sehwan said the blast took place inside the shrine, with the Assistant Superintendent of Police in Sehwan confirming it was a suicide bombing.
“The loud explosion took place inside the complex of the shrine,” ASP Rashid told Geo News, with eyewitnesses reporting a stampede inside the crowded shrine following the explosion.
Terrorist organisation Daesh claimed responsibility of the attack.
Large crowds of people, from different parts of the province, were gathered at the shrine when the blast took place.
Devotees throng to the shrine of the revered Sufi saint every Thursday to participate in a dhamaal and prayers. According to reports, the explosion took place after devotees had gathered inside the premises of the shrine. A high number of casualties were feared because of the crowd of people gathered at the shrine.
The wounded were shifted to hospitals in nearby areas.
Lack of medical facilities
Sehwan is located in Jamshoro district which is Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah’s constituency. The area is located far from any hospital, with the nearest medical complex located 40 to 50 kilometres from the site of the blast.
Speaking to Geo News, the provincial chief minister accepted the lack of adequate medical facilities in Sehwan, but said that the government had ordered ambulances to move from the nearby Dadu and Hyderabad areas.
“Our first priority is giving medical treatment to injured as soon as possible. We have moved ambulances from Dadu and Hyderabad. We do not have any helicopters that can fly at night, but we are doing the best we can,” he said.
“I am trying to go to Sehwan and personally monitor the situation there,” he added.
Governor Sindh Muhammad Zubair condemned the cowardly attack saying it is a part of recent wave of attacks. “We will fight back these attacks the way we have fought in the past,” he said.
The governor said all efforts being made to rescue as much affectees as could be. “We are in touch with the provincial government about transporting the wounded to hospitals.”
Sehwan Sharif lies at a distance of 284.4km (approximately four hours and 43 mins) from Karachi. The distance from Nawabshah to Sehwan is 95.4km, which takes around one hour and 24 mins to travel, while it takes 50 minutes, or 49 kilometres, to travel to Dadu. Sehwan to Jamshoro takes around one hour 47 minutes, having a distance of 134.3km in between.
‘Attack on Pakistan’s future’
In a statement, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif decried the attack on the Sufi shrine.
“The past few days have been hard, and my heart is with the victims,” Sharif said. “But we can’t let these events divide us, or scare us. We must stand united in this struggle for the Pakistani identity, and universal humanity.”
“Sufi saints played a major role in the foundation of Pakistan,” the prime minister said. “This is an attack on Pakistan’s future.”
Wave of terrorist attacks
Terrorists have targeted shrines of Sufi saints in the past.
In November, at least 52 people were killed and more than 100 got injured in a suicide blast in Shah Noorani shrine near Hub in Balochistan’s Lasbella district. Additional Deputy Commissioner Lasbella Tariq Mengal had said that 500 to 600 people were in the shrine at the time of the blast.
The attack in Sehwan on Thursday is part of a recent wave of terrorist attacks in the country, the fifth blast in less than a week targeting innocent people.
On Monday, a suicide attack in Lahore killed 14 people and wounded over 60 others.
On Wednesday, three suicide bombers targeted Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the adjoining tribal areas leaving around leaving seven people dead.
One of the incidents occurred in Peshawar where a suicide bomber riding a motorbike hit a vehicle carrying civil judges, while two other suicide bombers blew themselves up at separate locations in Mohmand Agency.
