At least 55 people are dead and dozens injured after a blast ripped through a mosque in southern Pakistan where worshipers had gathered for Friday prayers.

Jundullah, a Sunni militant group with links to the Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility for the attack on the mosque in Shikarpur, Sindh province.

The Dawn newspaper reported that many victims were trapped in the debris after the mosque's roof collapsed as a result of the blast. The News newspaper put the toll at 50, and quoted a local police official as saying the bomb had been detonated by a suicide bomber.

The Associated Press adds: "This area of Pakistan has largely been spared the intense attacks and violence seen over the years in the northwestern tribal areas bordering Afghanistan and also the port city of Karachi, indicating the country's terrorism challenges could be extending into new territory."

The attack comes a little more than a month after Taliban militants stormed a school in northwest Pakistan and killed at least 150 people – mostly children.

There is a long history of attacks on Shiites in Pakistan, which like much of the Muslim world has a Sunni majority.

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