Mosque Attack in Pakistan Claims Nearly 50 Lives

Approximately 50 people were killed when a terrorist's bomb ripped through a Pakistani mosque as hundreds gathered for their weekly prayers.

Reuters reports that the attack took place in the Pakistani city of Shikarpur, Sindh Province. The victims of the attacks were Shias, a religious minority in Pakistan. A Sunni militant group called Jundallah claimed responsibility for the attack. The group has sworn allegiance to the Islamic State, which shares its Sunni faith.

Attacks on Shias by the many radical Sunni groups within Pakistan are relatively common. As Reuters notes, this is the second attack on a Shia mosque in 2015. A Friday mosque bombing in the city of Rawlapindi left six people dead and 17 more injured in early Jan.

Reuters says that the explosion was so strong that a part of the mosque later collapsed on the injured who were waiting to be taken to the hospital, compounding the damage and loss of life.

The bombing has caused people to fear more violence, as a majority of the shops in Shikarpur were closed and the army and national guard were called in to patrol the streets and protect the city.

A Shia civil society group has called for a strike throughout the entire province of Sindh in order to protest the attack and poor security situation that defines all of Pakistan.

Pakistan's poor security grabbed international headlines in Dec. when terrorists stormed a school for the children and family members of the Pakistani military. More than 134 children and a number of teachers were killed in that assault, which saw the attacks hold off the Pakistani military with guns and bombs for most of a day.

The government responded by reinstating the death penalty for people convicted of terror offenses.