Daesh claims responsibility for Jhal Magsi's shrine blast

KARACHI - Daesh has claimed responsibility for Thursday's suspected suicide blast at a shrine in Jhal Magsi area of Balochistan, in which at least 22 people were killed.

“Islamic State (IS) is behind the attack on Dargah Fatehpur shrine”, a Turkish News Agency aa.com.tr
reported while quoting deputy inspector general of police. However, the officer declined to give further details on this issue, the report added.

A suspected suicide bomber blew himself up at the entrance of the Sufi shrine in remote Jhal Magsi district -- located some 400 kilometers (248 miles) east of provincial capital Quetta -- minutes before sunset when hundreds of devotees were attending a religious congregation.

Pakistan in the recent past has denied the presence of Daesh footprints on its soil, saying the Middle Eastern terrorist network has no attraction for Pakistani youths.

The network, however, has claimed responsibility for several terrorist attacks across Pakistan in recent months, including a suicide attack on a famous Sufi shrine -- Lal Shahbaz Qalandar’s shrine -- in southern Sindh province earlier this year that killed over 90 people.

Over a dozen suspected Daesh terrorists were killed during a security operation in Balochistan province that was aimed at recovery of a Chinese couple kidnapped by the terrorist network in June this year.

The Chinese couple was later killed by the group.