As many as 70 dead in Pakistan suicide bombing, ISIS claims responsibility

This Sufi shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Pakistan was bombed, killing 45.

(Image credit: YOUSUF NAGORI/AFP/Getty Images)

published 16 February 2017

The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for a suicide bomber's attack at a Sufi shrine in Pakistan on Thursday, with local police telling AFP that as many as 70 people are dead.

The attack took place in the city of Sehwan in Sindh province, where the closest hospital is over 40 miles away. "There was a huge crowd gathered there for the [religious gathering] at the shrine, and there was a very big explosion," Sindh's health minister, Sikandar Mandhro, told Al Jazeera. "The medical facilities at Sehwan are not equipped to deal with a very big emergency, so our first priority right now is to get help to the wounded."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Explore More

Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.

Subscribe to The Week

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox