Jacobabad

Not long ago, Sara Khan, principal at a school for disadvantaged girls in Jacobabad in southern Pakistan, looked on in alarm as some students passed out from the heat - the city was the world's hottest at one point in May.

Jacobabad city in Pakistans Sindh on Friday shut down after Hindu leader Lalchand Seetlani - president of the Hindu Panchayat Committee (HPC) - and his son Shiva, accused of keeping and selling smuggled goods, were arrested.

The Sunni extremist group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) has claimed responsibility for a suspected suicide bombing which left 24 dead in a southern Pakistani province, a minister from the region said on Saturday.

At least 15 people were killed and dozens injured in a suspected suicide blast targeting Shiites in the southern Pakistani city of Jacobabad today, police and hospital officials said.

Bustling with life till recently, the streets of Jacobabad in Pakistan's Sindh province now wear a forlorn look. The town, which is home to 90 per cent of the country's Hindu population, has witnessed families leaving in droves amidst a growing sense of insecurity and a prevailing fear psychosis arising out of reported persecution of minorities.

Not long ago, Sara Khan, principal at a school for disadvantaged girls in Jacobabad in southern Pakistan, looked on in alarm as some students passed out from the heat - the city was the world's hottest at one point in May.

Jacobabad city in Pakistans Sindh on Friday shut down after Hindu leader Lalchand Seetlani - president of the Hindu Panchayat Committee (HPC) - and his son Shiva, accused of keeping and selling smuggled goods, were arrested.

The Sunni extremist group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) has claimed responsibility for a suspected suicide bombing which left 24 dead in a southern Pakistani province, a minister from the region said on Saturday.

At least 15 people were killed and dozens injured in a suspected suicide blast targeting Shiites in the southern Pakistani city of Jacobabad today, police and hospital officials said.

Bustling with life till recently, the streets of Jacobabad in Pakistan's Sindh province now wear a forlorn look. The town, which is home to 90 per cent of the country's Hindu population, has witnessed families leaving in droves amidst a growing sense of insecurity and a prevailing fear psychosis arising out of reported persecution of minorities.