Pakistani mosque blast kills dozens

AT least 40 people have been killed in a powerful bomb blast at a Shia mosque in southern Pakistan, officials say.

Police said dozens were wounded in the attack after Friday prayers in the Shikarpur district of Sindh province, and the death toll is expected to rise.

Sunni militants linked to the Pakistani Taliban said they carried out the attack.

Local media reports suggest that the blast could have been a suicide attack, but police are investigating.

There has been rising sectarian violence in Pakistan in recent years. Sunni militant groups have targeted the Shia minority in the past.

The Jundallah militant group claimed that they had carried out the attack. The group has been linked to Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and announced allegiance to Islamic State (IS) last year.

A number of people were trapped after the roof of the mosque collapsed due to the force of the explosion, local media said.

Witness Zahid Zoon told AFP news agency that hundreds of people rushed to the scene after the blast to try to dig out survivors from the rubble.

“It is chaos,” he said.