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Tuesday March 19, 2024

58 die in Shikarpur mosque bombing

Police, bomb disposal experts differ over nature of blast; death toll increases due to shortage of oxygen and life-saving drugs at Civil Hospital Shikarpur; dead and injured shifted to hospital on cars, motorbikes and rickshaws in absence of ambulances; MWM announces three-day mourning; CM removes SSP Shikarpur, announces compensation, orders IGP to submit report on incident within 48 hours; president, PM, others grieved

By our correspondents
January 31, 2015
SUKKUR: Fifty-eight people were killed and over 49 injured when a bomb tore through a Shia mosque packed with worshippers here on Friday, around 470 kilometers north of Karachi.The incident took place at Markazi Jamia Masjid Syedu Shuhada, located in Lakhi Dar area of the city, when the worshippers stood up for Friday prayers.
Jundullah, a splinter group of TTP, claimed responsibility for the attack. “Our target was the Shia mosque, they are our enemies,” said Jundullah spokesman Fahad Marwat. Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah announced Rs500,000 compensation for the family of each deceased and Rs100,000 for each injured.
Ushr and Zakat secretary announced Rs6 million for the treatment of the injured and compensation for the heirs of the dead.Ghulam Murtaza Shah, Zaawar Shah, Imdad Channo, Shabbir Manghanhar, Sohail Shaikh, Irshad Shaikh, Mureed Ali, Khadim Channa, Waheed Ali, Ali Gohar Shah, Sabir Shah, Irshad Bablani, Azad Bablani, Dr Javed Shah, Khadim Napar, Sohail Memon, Muhammad Usman Shaikh, Ali Gul Hajano, Pir Bux Mangi, Khair Muhammad Jaffrani, Ihsan Shah, Muhammad Pervaiz, Muhammad Soomro, child Aashn, Noor Ahmad, Atta Shah, Qamar Abbas, Babar Ali, Maqbool Shah, Adil, Aziz Ahmed, Sono Shaikh, Abid Soomro were among the dead.
Some of the injured were shifted to Larkana and Sukkur. Around 20 were air-lifted to Karachi because of their critical condition.Bomb Disposal Squad said it was a remote controlled blast, while the police differed, claiming it was suicide bombing.
The death toll increased to 58 due to shortage of oxygen and life-saving drugs at the Shikarpur Civil Hospital. Due to a lack of ambulances, the dead and injured were shifted to hospital on cars, motorbikes and rickshaws.
Police and Rangers reached the scene soon after the blast and shifted the dead and injured to Shikarpur Civil Hospital with the help of citizens. So powerful was the blast that it shook the buildings surrounding the mosque. The area people stayed indoors for fear of life and came out only when blood donations were sought for the injured on loudspeakers.
The Pakistan Army doctors from Panu Aqil along with medicines reached the Civil hospital, Shikarpur.Medical Superintendent, Civil Hospital, Shikarpur, Dr Shaukat Memon, said the hospital had received 41 bodies and over 50 injured. He said an emergency had been declared at the hospital and doctors were busy treating the injured.
SSP Shikarpur Saqib Ismail said as per evidence, it was probably a suicide blast. However, bomb disposal expert Tahir Mughal said it was still not confirmed whether it was a suicide or a remote controlled blast. He said five to seven kilo explosive material was used in the blast. Ball bearings were also collected from the scene.
SSP Special Branch Sharjil Kharal said a head and legs collected from the scene would be sent to the forensic lab for DNA testing. He said investigations were on to confirm whether it was a suicide or a remote controlled blast.
DIG Larkana Sain Rakhio Mirani said it was a suicide bombing. “During interviews, those injured in the incident said when worshippers were arranging themselves in lines to say prayers, a bomber, wearing a suicide jacket, detonated himself in the third line.”
He said usually two policemen were deployed at the mosque for the Friday prayers but one was absent and the second too was not present there on the day of the incident. He said there was also no volunteer to guard the mosque.
The DIG said there were around 400 worshippers at the double storeyed mosque. The ceiling of the first floor came down during the blast, burying some of the wounded under the rubble. Bystanders pulled the people from the debris and shifted them to hospital
Bomb Disposal expert Tahir Mughal said it was not a suicide blast. He said an explosive material was concealed under the stairs of the mosque and it was blasted through a remote control.
President Mamnoon Hussain, Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah, Governor Ishratul Ebad Khan and Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah, PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, PTI chief Imran Khan and others condemned the incident.
Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM) called for a province-wide strike on Saturday (today) in protest. MWM’s Allama Nasir Abbas announced the mourning and condemned the blast in a statement.
Tehreek Nifaz-e-Fiqah Jafria (TNFJ) chief Agha Syed Hamid Ali Moosvi strongly condemned the incident and said those killing innocent human beings in the name of Islam were not Muslims.
President Shia Rabita Council, Sindh, Major Ali Abbas Kazmi, and Mazhar Abbas demanded an impartial inquiry into the incident and announced a three-day mourning. They said Shia Muslims were being killed but the government was playing the role of a spectator.
The chief minister issued orders for the removal of SSP Shikarpur Saqib Ismail Memon and ordered the IGP to submit a report to him within 48 hours.
Extraordinary security measures were taken in Sukkur, Khairpur and other cities following the incident.