candypreet
05-27-2005, 09:46 AM
Suicide bomber kills 24 at Sufi shrine in Pakistan
A suicide bomb attack on at shrine packed with Shia Muslims near Islamabad left more than 24 people dead and dozens of others wounded today.
The suspected bomber blew himself in the main hall of Bari Imam shrine where thousands of devotees had gathered to pay homage to a 17th century Sufi saint on the last day of an annual festival.
The shrine is located close to the Prime Minister’s official residence and high- security diplomatic enclave.
Police said that there might have been two attackers, one of whom was thought to have had about 4lb of explosives strapped to his chest. Some witnesses said that they saw his body flying through the air after the device exploded close to a podium where a sermon was being delivered.
The attack occurred hours before an anti-US rally outside parliament to protest against the alleged desecration of the Koran at the US military detention centre at Guantanamo Bay.
Sufism is a mystical and ascetic movement within Islam. Both Sunni and Shia Muslims revere Shah Abdul Latif Kazmi, who is also known as Islamabad’s patron saint. But some conservative Sunni groups believe such festivities are against Islamic tenets.
Today’s attack was the latest in the chain of religious violence that has gripped Pakistan. Hundreds of people have been killed in the sectarian strife involving Sunni and Shia extremists groups over the past one year.
No-one has claimed the responsibility, but police suspect that Sunni extremists were involved in the worst incident of sectarian violence in the capital.
Some blood-stained bodies were covered with religious banners. Most of the bodies were blown into pieces and could not be identified. At least 150 people, included women and children, were wounded, most of them seriously.
"We were listening to a sermon when there was a huge blast. Everything went black and I couldn’t hear anything," said Munazar Abbasi, who was slightly wounded.
Hundreds of angry mourners blocked the roads and raised anti-government slogans. Syed Guftar Hussain Sadiqi, a Shia leader said the blast appeared to be the work of banned Sunni militant groups.
President Pervez Musharraf expressed shock and grief at the loss of life and called for immediate steps to catch and punish those responsible. There has been a marked surge in sectarian related violence his Government started crackdown on extremist Islamic groups after Pakistan joined US-led War on Terror in 2001.
The last major attack against a religious gathering in Pakistan happened on March 19, when suspected Islamic militants bombed a festival for a Shia Muslim saint at a village shrine in southwestern Baluchistan province, killing at least 46 people.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-1630522,00.html
A suicide bomb attack on at shrine packed with Shia Muslims near Islamabad left more than 24 people dead and dozens of others wounded today.
The suspected bomber blew himself in the main hall of Bari Imam shrine where thousands of devotees had gathered to pay homage to a 17th century Sufi saint on the last day of an annual festival.
The shrine is located close to the Prime Minister’s official residence and high- security diplomatic enclave.
Police said that there might have been two attackers, one of whom was thought to have had about 4lb of explosives strapped to his chest. Some witnesses said that they saw his body flying through the air after the device exploded close to a podium where a sermon was being delivered.
The attack occurred hours before an anti-US rally outside parliament to protest against the alleged desecration of the Koran at the US military detention centre at Guantanamo Bay.
Sufism is a mystical and ascetic movement within Islam. Both Sunni and Shia Muslims revere Shah Abdul Latif Kazmi, who is also known as Islamabad’s patron saint. But some conservative Sunni groups believe such festivities are against Islamic tenets.
Today’s attack was the latest in the chain of religious violence that has gripped Pakistan. Hundreds of people have been killed in the sectarian strife involving Sunni and Shia extremists groups over the past one year.
No-one has claimed the responsibility, but police suspect that Sunni extremists were involved in the worst incident of sectarian violence in the capital.
Some blood-stained bodies were covered with religious banners. Most of the bodies were blown into pieces and could not be identified. At least 150 people, included women and children, were wounded, most of them seriously.
"We were listening to a sermon when there was a huge blast. Everything went black and I couldn’t hear anything," said Munazar Abbasi, who was slightly wounded.
Hundreds of angry mourners blocked the roads and raised anti-government slogans. Syed Guftar Hussain Sadiqi, a Shia leader said the blast appeared to be the work of banned Sunni militant groups.
President Pervez Musharraf expressed shock and grief at the loss of life and called for immediate steps to catch and punish those responsible. There has been a marked surge in sectarian related violence his Government started crackdown on extremist Islamic groups after Pakistan joined US-led War on Terror in 2001.
The last major attack against a religious gathering in Pakistan happened on March 19, when suspected Islamic militants bombed a festival for a Shia Muslim saint at a village shrine in southwestern Baluchistan province, killing at least 46 people.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-1630522,00.html