Pakistan: Death toll rises to 52 in IS-claimed blast at Balochistan shrine

An injured boy victim of bomb blast at a Sufi shrine, is treated at a local hospital in Hub town near Karachi, Pakistan. Pakistani police say a bomb blast at a Sufi shrine has killed several people and wounded many others in the country’s southwest. (Source: AP)

A Pakistani official said the death toll from a bomb blast at a Sufi shrine in southwest Pakistan has risen to 52 and over 100 wounded. The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the suicide attack Saturday at the shrine of Sufi saint Shah Bilal Noorani in Khuzdar district in the southwestern Balochistan province.

Abdur Rasool, an official at the province’s home ministry, said rescuers transported over 100 wounded and 45 bodies to hospitals. The blast targeted worshippers as they were in the throes of their devotional “dhamal” dance.

Islamic militants have previously targeted the province, which for over a decade has been the scene of a low-intensity insurgency by nationalist and separatist groups demanding a bigger share of regional resources.