Suicide Bomber Kills 23 Near Pakistan Capital
The
bomber attacked the procession around midnight Wednesday in the city of
Rawalpindi,
located next to the capital, Islamabad, said Deeba Shahnaz,
a state rescue official. At least 62 people were wounded by the blast,
including six policemen. Eight of the dead and wounded were children,
said Shahnaz.
Police tried to
stop and search the bomber as he attempted to join the procession, but
he ran past them and detonated his explosives, said senior police
official Haseeb Shah. The attacker was also carrying grenades, some of
which exploded, said Shah.
"I think the explosives combined with grenades caused the big loss," said Shah.
Earlier
Wednesday, two bombs went off within minutes outside a Shiite mosque in
the southern city of Karachi, killing at least one person and wounding
several others, senior police official Javed Odho said.
The
bombings came as Shiites were observing the holy month of Muharram. On
Saturday, Shiites will observe the holiest day of the month, Ashoura,
which commemorates the seventh century death of Imam Hussein, the
Prophet Muhammad's grandson.
Sunnis and Shiites have been at odds since the seventh century over the true heir to Muhammad.
Pakistan
has a long history of sectarian violence carried out by both extremist
Sunni and Shiite Muslims against the opposite sect. Most attacks in
recent years have targeted Shiites, who make up a minority in the
overwhelmingly Muslim country.
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