A suicide attacker blew himself up outside at Dargah Fatehpur in Jhal Magsi on Thursday, killing 18 people amid threats of more attacks in the terror-stricken nation, officials said. The incident follows a deadly bomb blast at the same shrine in 2005, which killed 35 people.
"A suicide bomber blew himself up after he was intercepted by police guards on duty outside the shrine, killing 18 people including three children under the age of 12 and two policemen, and wounding at least 27 others, 14 of them seriously," Balochistan home secretary Akbar Harifal told AFP. Home minister Sarfaraz Bugti confirmed the toll.
The incident occurred as people attended annual celebrations of a local saint. Members of Sunni and Shia sects make daily visits to the shrine in Jhal Magsi district but attendance climbs significantly during festivities. Officials said the attack came amid a new terror threat from four foreign agencies hostile to Pakistan.
Harifal said the seriously injured patients from Thursday's blast were being airlifted to Sindh in the absence of adequate medical facilities in Balochistan. The explosion triggered panic, with worshippers shouting and running in different directions, officials at the site told AFP. Limbs of the dead and injured lay in pools of blood. "The suicide bomber struck outside the shrine at a time when it was packed with people attending anniversary celebrations of Syed Cheesal Shah," said senior local administration official Asad Kakar, referring to the local saint. Balochistan government spokesman Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar said there were confirmed reports of a suicide attack. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.