20 people killed in suicide bombing in Balochistan

In Pakistan, at least 20 people, including a police constable, were killed and more than 30 injured in a suicide bombing yesterday at a Dargah in Fatehpur, of Jhal Magsi district of Balochistan.

The District Chairman confirmed the death toll late in the night. The deputy commissioner of Jhal Magsi had earlier said that the deceased include at least three children.The explosion, which police attributed to a suicide bomber, took place at the entrance to the dargah of Pir Rakhel Shah, at a time when scores of people had gathered to pay their respects.

District Police Officer Mohammad Iqbal said the bomber had tried to enter



the shrine but a security guard stopped him, after which the attacker detonated his explosives. 

The attack happened hours after the chief of the military's media wing highlighted the army's efforts in combating terrorism across the country and brought up the role of non-state actors that the army believes are being sponsored by enemy spy agencies. 

It was the second deadly attack on a shrine in Pakistan in 2017. In February this year, a suicide bomber had killed more than 80 people and injured more than 250 in an attack targeting the busy Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine in Sehwan, Sindh.