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Bomb Attack On Shiite Mosque In Pakistan Leaves At Least 55 Dead

Pakistani protesters in Karachi condemn a bombing at a Shiite mosque in Shikarpur on Friday.
Fareed Khan
/
AP
Pakistani protesters in Karachi condemn a bombing at a Shiite mosque in Shikarpur on Friday.

At least 55 people are dead and dozens injured after a blast ripped through a mosque in southern Pakistan where worshipers had gathered for Friday prayers.

Jundullah, a Sunni militant group with links to the Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility for the attack on the mosque in Shikarpur, Sindh province.

The Dawn newspaper reported that many victims were trapped in the debris after the mosque's roof collapsed as a result of the blast. The News newspaper put the toll at 50, and quoted a local police official as saying the bomb had been detonated by a suicide bomber.

The Associated Press adds: "This area of Pakistan has largely been spared the intense attacks and violence seen over the years in the northwestern tribal areas bordering Afghanistan and also the port city of Karachi, indicating the country's terrorism challenges could be extending into new territory."

The attack comes a little more than a month after Taliban militants stormed a school in northwest Pakistan and killed at least 150 people – mostly children.

There is a long history of attacks on Shiites in Pakistan, which like much of the Muslim world has a Sunni majority.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Krishnadev Calamur is NPR's deputy Washington editor. In this role, he helps oversee planning of the Washington desk's news coverage. He also edits NPR's Supreme Court coverage. Previously, Calamur was an editor and staff writer at The Atlantic. This is his second stint at NPR, having previously worked on NPR's website from 2008-15. Calamur received an M.A. in journalism from the University of Missouri.