KARACHI, Pakistan — An explosion ripped through a Shiite mosque in southern Pakistan during weekly prayers on Friday, killing more than 40 people and wounding at least 50 in an apparent suicide attack, hospital officials said.
The bombing in Shikarpur, about 300 miles north of Karachi, was the country’s worst sectarian attack in months. It offered further proof that extremists are spreading deep into Sindh Province, which had previously escaped the worst of Pakistan’s violence.
Television images from the scene showed bloodied worshipers being carried from the mosque in the city’s Lakhi Dar district. Haji Saleem, a representative of the Edhi Foundation, a nonprofit rescue service, said that at least 50 people had been killed, and more than 100 had been injured.
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Mr. Sharif said that military courts recently approved by Parliament, which will allow the army to try suspects accused of being Taliban, would begin operation in the coming days.
Salman Masood contributed reporting from Islamabad, Pakistan
