Pakistan shrine bombing February 17, 2017February 17, 2017 by shameen Pakistani Muslims offer Friday prayers at the shrine of Saint Syed Ali bin Osman Al-Hajvery, popularly known as Data Ganj Bakhsh, in Lahore on February 17, 2017, following a deadly bomb attack on a shrine of 13th century Muslim Sufi saint Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in the town of Sehwan in Sindh province, some 200 kilometres north-east of the provincial capital Karachi. Pakistan launched a crackdown February 17 after a bomb killed 70 people at a crowded Sufi shrine, officials said, the deadliest in a wave of attacks that analysts said suggested militants could be regrouping. The Islamic State group (IS) has claimed the attack, which came after a series of bloody extremist assaults this week, including a powerful Taliban suicide bomb in the eastern city of Lahore which killed 13 people and wounded dozens. The attacks have dented growing optimism in security after Pakistan’s decade-long war on militancy. / AFP PHOTO / ARIF ALI A Pakistani policeman stands guard as Muslims offer Friday prayers on a street in Karachi on February 17, 2017, following bomb attack on a shrine of 13th century Muslim Sufi saint Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in the town of Sehwan in Sindh province, some 200 kilometres north-east of the provincial capital Karachi. Pakistan launched a crackdown February 17 after a bomb killed 70 people at a crowded Sufi shrine, officials said, the deadliest in a wave of attacks that analysts said suggested militants could be regrouping. The Islamic State group (IS) has claimed the attack, which came after a series of bloody extremist assaults this week, including a powerful Taliban suicide bomb in the eastern city of Lahore which killed 13 people and wounded dozens. The attacks have dented growing optimism in security after Pakistan’s decade-long war on militancy. / AFP PHOTO / RIZWAN TABASSUM A Pakistani policeman (C) checks Muslim men as they arrive to offer Friday prayers at the shrine of Saint Syed Ali bin Osman Al-Hajvery, popularly known as Data Ganj Bakhsh, in Lahore on February 17, 2017, following bomb attack on a shrine of 13th century Muslim Sufi saint Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in the town of Sehwan in Sindh province, some 200 kilometres north-east of the provincial capital Karachi. Pakistan launched a crackdown February 17 after a bomb killed 70 people at a crowded Sufi shrine, officials said, the deadliest in a wave of attacks that analysts said suggested militants could be regrouping. The Islamic State group (IS) has claimed the attack, which came after a series of bloody extremist assaults this week, including a powerful Taliban suicide bomb in the eastern city of Lahore which killed 13 people and wounded dozens. The attacks have dented growing optimism in security after Pakistan’s decade-long war on militancy. / AFP PHOTO / ARIF ALI Pakistani security personnel stand guard at the 13th century Muslim Sufi shrine of Lal A baby feeder lies on the blood-stained floor at the 13th century Muslim Sufi shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar a day after a bomb attack in the town of Sehwan in Sindh province, some 200 kilometres northeast of the provincial capital Karachi, on February 17, 2017. Pakistan launched a nationwide security crackdown Friday, officials said, after a bomb ripped through a crowded Sufi shrine, killing at least 70 people including 20 children and wounding hundreds. / AFP PHOTO / ASIF HASSAN