Bomb explodes at Pakistan shrine

AT least 45 people died and 30 others were injured when a bomb exploded at a Sufi shrine, as Islamic State claims responsibility for the blast.

A bomb exploded at a Sufi shrine in southern Pakistan’s Balochistan province on Saturday. Picture: Supplied.

AT least 45 people died and 30 others were injured when a bomb exploded at a Sufi shrine in southern Pakistan’s Balochistan province Saturday, officials said.

The blast hit a crowd of worshippers participating in a ceremony at the shrine of Sufi saint Shah Noorani in Khuzdar district, some 760 kilometres south of provincial capital Quetta.

“At least 43 people have been killed and dozens of others wounded,” Sarfraz Bugti told a press conference in the southwestern port town of Gwadar, without providing a precise figure for those injured.

People gather outside an emergency ward of a local hospital after hearing news of a bomb blast at a Sufi shrine, in Karachi, Pakistan. Picture: AP

A senior police official and a security official confirmed the death toll.

The Islamic State militant group has claimed responsibility for the attack, according to a statement released by the group’s news agency.

The IS statement claimed 35 people had been killed and more than 95 wounded in the attack.

“Thirty-five visitors of the Shia shrine were killed and 95 injured in a martyrdom attack by Islamic State fighters targeting the shrine in Baluchistan in Pakistan,” read the statement.

Staff members of a local hospital wait for casualties of bomb blast at a Sufi shrine, in Karachi, Pakistan. Picture: AP

The blast at the Shah Noorani shrine, about 100km north of the port city of Karachi, took place while hundreds of people were inside.

“Every day, around sunset, there is a dhamaal (ritual dance) here, and there are large numbers of people who come for this,” said Nawaz Ali, the shrine’s custodian.

Baluchistan has seen some of the worst militant attacks this year in Pakistan, one of which was claimed by an Islamist movement that is allied to the Islamic State group.