Islamabad, May 27
Twentyfive persons were killed and more than 50 injured today in a suspected suicide bombing at a Sufi shrine near the Pakistani capital where hundreds of devotees had gathered for the Friday prayers as well as to celebrate an annual religious festival.
The blast took place around 11.20 am (local time) when hundreds of people had gathered for the Friday prayers at the Hazrat Bari Imam shrine, devoted to Sufi saint Shah Abdul Latheef Khazmi, on the
outskirts of Islamabad.
The blast took place as the annual festival of Bari Imam came to a close.
Local Geo TV reported that 25 persons were killed though 19 were confirmed dead by the hospital sources. Among the over 50 injured, the condition of five was stated to be serious. State-run PTV put the death toll at 14.
Eye witness accounts said a powerful bomb was detonated by a person in the crowded compound of the shrine, frequented by devotees from both Shia and Sunni communities.
A devotee Tariq Ali, who survived the attack, told reporters after the blast that he saw a man tossing a “bomb” into a thick crowd of people, which subsequently exploded. He said he saw several persons tossed into the air as the bomb exploded.
He said the person who threw the bomb too was killed in the blast and pointed to a severed head of a male lying on the compound.
However, first reports had aid the blast was caused by a remote control device. Other eyewitnesses said a person got on to a stage set up by Shia devotees in the compound and blew himself up.
A police official also said it was a suspected suicide bomb blast. Pakistan Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, however, said the claims of suicide bombing were yet to be ascertained.
The government declared emergency in the main hospitals at Rawalpindi and Islamabad to treat the injured.
After the blast, angry survivors clashed with the police protesting lack of security at the shrine. The police used lathicharge and tear gas to disperse the protesters, Geo TV reported.
— PTI
