Families ripped apart in Shah Norani Shrine attack

Survivors of a massive bomb attack on a shrine in south-west Pakistan that killed dozens spoke of their horror Sunday after families were ripped apart,

The blast later confirmed to be the work of a teenage suicide bomber, hit male and female worshippers as they were dancing and chanting at the shrine of the Sufi saint Shah Norani, some 750 kilometres (460 miles) south of Quetta.

Mohammad Shehzad, a 25-year-old who had travelled in a group of 120 pilgrims, told a foreign media agency: “The pressure of the blast was so strong, people were blown away. Everyone was running, shouting and searching for families.”

“Children were looking for the mothers and fathers. People looking for brothers and sisters but no one was able to listen to their cries.”

The attack killed 52 and wounded more than 105 and was the fourth deadliest in Pakistan this year.

Stricken survivors swathed themselves in blankets and braved the cold under open skies overnight as they made their way home.

Witnesses said problems were compounded by the fact that it took several hours for rescue services to reach the remote shrine, located on a hilltop in the Khuzdar district of Balochistan several kilometres away from surrounding villages, with poor mobile network coverage.

Hafeez Ali, a 28-year-old auto mechanic, said: “We had left the area only five minutes before the attack to go and cook our dinner. From our viewpoint on a hill, we could see three whirling dervishes dancing to a drummer, as hundreds formed a circle around them. Then came the explosion.”

“We realised that it was a bomb blast. Two of us rushed down and saw the bodies scattered all around — mostly children. We also saw the drum beater dead and his exploded drum was lying nearby.”

Balochistan’s Home Minister Sarfraz Bugti, told a foreign media agency that the blast was carried out by a teenage suicide bomber.

“We have found body parts of the bomber which place his age at around 16 to 18,” he said.

Pakistan has been battling a home-grown Islamist insurgency since shortly after the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 forced the remnants of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda to flee across the border.

Overall levels of violence have dropped in recent years following major military operations in the tribal areas mainly targeting the Tehreek-e-Taliban, but it now appears that new threats are emerging.