Live
- 3rd Test: Centuries from Head, Smith help dominant Australia feast on listless India
- AAP final list of 38 names in Delhi: Kejriwal, CM Atishi retain seats
- Tributes Paid to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on His Death Anniversary at CM Revanth Reddy's Residence
- In just one year, Bhajanlal govt wins hearts of people
- CM Chandrababu announces establishment of Potti Sriramulu Telugu University
- Sutume, Kissa win World 25K Kolkata; India's Gulveer makes course record
- US accounts for 18 per cent of Indian exports in FY24
- Will end Naxalism in Chhattisgarh by March 2026: Amit Shah
- Will gift one project daily to people during Jan Kalyan Parv
- Mahakumbh & the Politics of Sanatan Nationalism
Karachi at standstill after Shiite massacre claimed by Islamic State
Highlights
Pakistan\'s biggest city of Karachi was brought to a standstill Thursday following the massacre of 44 minority Shiite Ismaili Muslims in the first attack officially claimed by the Islamic State group in the country.
Pakistan's biggest city of Karachi was brought to a standstill Thursday following the massacre of 44 minority Shiite Ismaili Muslims in the first attack officially claimed by the Islamic State group in the country.
.jpg)
Hundreds of distraught relatives lined the streets around a cemetery in the city's eastern Safoora Goth area passing the coffins of the men and women who were killed on Wednesday when up to six gunmen stormed a bus and shot them in the head and upper body.
The provincial chief minister had announced a day of mourning as all markets, shops and schools were shut and public transport was suspended. Schools, colleges and universities also postponed examinations.
The toll from the attack rose from 43 to 44 after a wounded woman died at the city's Aga Khan hospital, a spokesman told AFP.
Karachi police chief Ghulam Qadir Thebo told AFP the police had rounded up several suspects and most of them were the members of banned militant outfits.
Thebo said: "According to initial investigations, there were six attackers. Three went inside the bus and three remained outside. They fired with 9 mm and Kalashnikov rifles."
Wednesday's attack was the first in the country officially claimed by the Islamic State group, which controls swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria.
It was also claimed by local militant faction Jundullah, which reportedly pledged its allegiance to the group last year.
Thebo, the police chief, was cautious about the claims and said the attackers seemed to be locals.
"The attacker seemed to be local and knew the area well. Maybe their handlers were from outside Pakistan," he said.
"In a previous attack on Bohri community mosque the attackers also left a pamphlet, investigators are looking into whether it is the same group which struck yesterday," he added, referring to another Shiite minority sect.
Wednesday's attack was the second-deadliest in Pakistan this year after 62 Shiite Muslims were killed in a suicide bombing in late January.
Next Story
ADVERTISEMENT
