DOZENS KILLED, ARRESTED AFTER IS SHRINE BOMBING
Pakistani forces killed and arrested dozens of suspects in sweeping raids overnight and into Friday, a day after a massive suicide bombing by the Islamic State group killed up to 80 worshippers at a famed Sufi shrine in the country’s south.
The terror attack — Pakistan’s deadliest in years — stunned the nation and raised questions about the authorities’ ability to rein in militant groups despite several military offensives targeting militant hideouts.
The raids targeted militant hideouts and led to shootouts with insurgents that left at least 39 militants dead across Pakistan, according to three security officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Most of the operations were carried out by the paramilitary Rangers. In one raid, the troops killed 11 suspects at a militant hideout in the port city of Karachi. In another, the Rangers came under fire as they were returning from Sehwan, a town in southern Sindh province where the shrine bombing took place, and killed seven of the attackers.
Other raids took place in northwestern Pakistan and also in the eastern province of Punjab. The officials said a total of 47 suspects were arrested in the raids.
In Thursday’s attack, the suicide bomber walked into the main hall at the Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine in Sehwan, and detonated his explosives among a crowd of worshippers.
Qazi Shahid Pervez, police commissioner in Hyderabad, said the death toll has risen to 80 and a total of 250 people were wounded in the explosion.
At least 20 women and nine children were among the dead. /