This Is Islam: Taliban Militants Bomb Muslim Shrine in Pakistan, Kill 42

Taliban militants carried out a double suicide bombing outside the shrine of the 13th century Muslim Sufi saint Ahmed Sultan, popularly known as Sakhi Sarwar, in Dera Ghazi Khan district, in Pakistan’s Punjab province, killing 42 people and injuring more than 70 on Sunday.

Hundreds of Muslims had gathered at the shrine for a ceremony when the attacks took place.

“We have recovered 41 bodies so far,” police officer Zahid Hussain said, adding that more than 70 people were wounded. “Both were suicide attackers, they came on foot and blew themselves up when police on duty stopped them.”

Many of those wounded in the attacks were in serious condition, he said, and the injured have been taken to the Dera Ghazi Khan hospital for treatment. Regional police chief Ahmed Mubarak confirmed that two suicide bombers tried to enter the shrine but failed and blew themselves up.

He said two of the attackers’ accomplices were arrested by rescue officials and law enforcement agencies as they tried to detonate their explosive vests. They were handed over to investigation agencies, which moved them to an undisclosed location for interrogation.

Hussain said the detainees included a suspected suicide bomber identified as Fida Hussain, a 15- to 16-year-old Afghan refugee from Pakistan’s tribal area, he said.

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