At least 30 persons were killed and over 100 injured when terrorists targeted the shrine of Sufi saint, Shah Noorani near Hub in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province.
The blast struck at a time when people including women and children were gathered at the shrine.
The target of the attack was an area where believers would perform “Dhamal” – a trance-like dance.
Rescue teams have reached the blast site and started shifting the dec”eased and injured to the hospital in Hub and Karachi.
The rescuers and law enforcers faced difficulty in reaching the site as the shrine of Shah Noorani is located in a remote area. The death toll is feared to rise with women and children casualties in the deadly blast.
This is the second major incident of terrorism in the province – which strategically connects surrounding regions including the Gulf, Iran, Central Asia and now China with the oil-rich Middle East through economic corridor.
On October 30, three heavily armed militants wearing suicide vests had stormed the New Sariab Police Training Centre near Quetta in Balochistan province, killing at least 62 people and wounding dozens
Balochistan Home Minister Mir Sarfaraz Bugti immediately responded to the incident, saying the provincial administration was focused on saving maximum human lives.
He also confirmed that an ambulance chopper could not be used in the rescue operation due to darkness in the mountainous region, an area with no cellular network coverage.
The incident occurs a day after the law enforcement agencies killed commander of a banned outfit during an action in Hub area.
In a joint action, late on Thursday night, Rangers, Frontier Corps and police gunned down commander Arif alias Saqib of banned outfit Jundullah, after exchange of fire.
Arif was the mastermind of several suicide attacks in Karachi and Balochistan. A huge cache of arms and ammunition was seized during the action. Meanwhile, a widespread operation has also been launched to hunt down his accomplices.
Hazrat Baba Shah Noorani’s Shrine, which is more than 500 years old, is surrounded by a striking mountain range having a diversity of animal life.
Shah Noorani has been the abode of many Sufi Saints belonging to various schools of thought. The sufis preach love, tolerance and mutual respect as part of the spiritual development and many in the world have say their teachings provide a healing to the violent ideology of militants.
