A bomb planted on a motorcycle exploded at the gate of a famous Sufi shrine in central Pakistan during morning prayers today, killing at least five people, officials said in Multan. The blast at the Farid Shakar Ganj shrine in Punjab province was the latest in a string of attacks targeting Sufi shrines in Pakistan. Islamist militants often target Sufis, whose mystical practices clash with their hardline interpretation of Islam.
The dead from todays blast included at least one woman, said Maher Aslam Hayat, a senior government official in the Pak Pattan district where the shrine is located. At least 13 others were wounded in the explosion, he said. The bombing significantly damaged a row of shops outside the shrine, said Hayat. But the shrine itself, which is dedicated to a 12th century Sufi saint, was largely undamaged, he said. Local TV footage showed the twisted and charred body of the motorcycle on which the bomb was planted.
It also showed large piles of broken wood and chunks of concrete from the shops damaged by the blast. After the attack, a top Sufi scholar, Mufti Muneebur Rehman, criticized the government for not doing enough to protect the Sufi population. Pakistan is 95 percent Muslim, and the majority practice Sufi-influenced Islam.