Shrine bombers massacre 24
A powerful bomb exploded at a gathering of minority Shiite Muslims in a remote town in southwestern Pakistan today, killing at least 24 people and wounding 16 others, police said.
Thousands of worshippers had congregated at the shrine of a Shiite saint near the town of Naseerabad, about 210 miles south of Quetta, when the bomb went off outside at about 10:20pm. (5.20pm Irish Time), said Mubarak Ali, a local police official.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, and police said they were investigating.
“It was a powerful bomb. There was blood and body parts everywhere,” Mehrab Khan, said another police official.
“Right now people are angry. They are wailing and crying. Some of them have blocked roads in the town and we are trying to control the situation.”
Khan said the dead and injured, some in critical condition, were taken to a nearby hospital. He said he expected the death toll to rise.
Pakistan has a history of sectarian violence, mostly blamed on rival majority Sunni and minority Shiite extremist groups. About 80% of Pakistan’s 150 million people are Sunnis and 17% Shiites.
Most of the Muslims live together peacefully, but small groups of militants on both sides stage attacks. The schism between Sunnis and Shiites dates to the 7th century over who was the true heir to the Prophet Mohammed.
