Two suicide bombers injure three in failed detonating attempt in Shikarpur
Worshippers overpowered the second would-be suicide bomber
KARACHI (Dunya News/AFP) - Suicide bomber, in a failed detonating attempt, has injured three policemen outside a mosque in southern part of the country as the nation marked the beginning of the religious festival Eidul Azha on Tuesday.
The attack took place in Shikarpur in Sindh province, around 470 kilometres (300 miles) north of Karachi and the same district where at least 61 were killed in a suicide attack on another mosque in 2015.
Officials said that two suicide bombers attempted to enter the Khanpur Imambargah but were intercepted by police.
"Three of our men are injured of whom one is critical" Umar Tufail, a senior local police officer told AFP.
Tufail added doctors were also trying to save the life of the other suspected bomber, who was injured when the first one blew himself up but failed to detonate himself.
"The attackers came as the worshippers were gathering to offer Eid prayers. Police were able to stop him at the gate outside the mosque," A.D. Khawaja, chief of police for Sindh province said.
Worshippers overpowered the second would-be suicide bomber as the police were reeling from their injuries, he added.
The country has been hit by frequent sectarian violence and attacks owing to hardline extremism in recent years.
The attack on the mosque in Shikarpur in January last year, claimed by extremist outfit named Lashkare-eJhangvi, led to a wave of nationwide protests.
Locals gathered to protest the second attack in the mosque in past one and a half years.
Indus Highway was blocked for all kinds of traffic. AD Khawaja, Inspector General of Sindh Police arrived at the scene to calm the protesters down.
He hailed efforts of personnel of Sindh Police to save the area of bigger consequences.
Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, who was accompanied by Home Minister Sohail Anwar Siyal, vowed that the government would not take a breather until the province is safe of the threats.
The Inspector General of Police said that the injured attacker would be tried in military court.
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