Two killed as blast rocks Shia mosque in Pakistan

Latest reports say at least two people have been killed and several others injured in a bomb attack on a Shia mosque in the southern Pakistani port city of Karachi.

Local security officials said the attack occurred in the crowded Saddar area of the Pakistan’s most populated city in the province of Sindh.

An improvised explosive device (IED) planted on a bicycle exploded outside the mosque as people were performing Friday Prayers, they added.

The injured were shifted to a nearby hospital for treatment.

Police and army personnel have reached the site and cordoned off the mosque. Security personnel are busy clearing the site of any explosives.

Local security officials say they have launched an investigation into the explosion.

This is the latest deadly incident in a series of terror attacks against the Shia Muslim community in Pakistan. Pro-Taliban militants have claimed responsibility for similar attacks in the violence-wracked country.

On January 30, at least 60 people were killed and dozens injured in a bomb attack on a Shia mosque and religious center in the town of Shikarpur, around 470 kilometers (300 miles) north of Karachi.

Pakistani people gather at the site of a bomb attack on a Shia mosque in Peshawar on February 13, 2015. © AFP

In a similar assault on February 13, Taliban militants attacked worshippers at a Shia mosque in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar with guns and grenades, killing at least 20 and injuring dozens.

Paksitani Shia Muslims have demanded the government take decisive action against the forces involved in the targeted killings, saying that Islamabad cannot provide security for the Shia Muslim community.

The frequent incidents have raised concerns among human rights groups, while moderate Pakistani Sunni groups have described the issue as a conspiracy against the country.

Shias make up about a third of Pakistan’s population of over 180 million.