Hyderabad/Karachi, February 16 (Herald Tribune): At least 72 people have been killed and over 200 injured in a suicide bombing at the shrine of Sufi saint Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sindh’s Sehwan town on Thursday, officials confirmed.
The bomber struck inside the compound, where a large number of devotees were performing Dhamal a devotional dance, sources said.
Sehwan is 132 kilometres from Jamshoro and around 140 kilometers from Hyderabad in Sindh province.
“The incident took place outside the Mazar (shrine) where the Golden Gate is located,” Hyderabad Commissioner Kazi Shahid Parvez told The Express Tribune.
The bombing is reminiscent of a near-identical attack at Dargah Shah Noorani, in Khuzdar district of Balochistan, late last year. At least 45 people, including women and children, were killed in that attack.
An emergency has been declared in hospitals across Dadu, Sehwan and Hyderabad.
“Ambulances from Hyderabad and Jamshoro have been sent to Sehwan. The town has a taluka hospital but it is not equipped with a trauma centre to deal with emergency cases,” in-charge Edhi Foundation Mairaj Ahmed told The Express Tribune.
Navy helicopters, PAF aircraft are being dispatched for rescue operations, according to the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR).
