seruriermarshal
06-01-2004, 12:11 AM
Blast at Pakistan Mosque Kills at Least 15 People
Associated Press May 31, 2004 1:17 p.m.
KARACHI, Pakistan -- A bomb exploded at a Shiite Muslim mosque in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi, killing at least 15 people and injuring more than 35, police said. A day earlier, the city was wracked by violence after a leading pro-Taliban cleric was gunned down.
The blast struck the Imam Bargah Ali Raza mosque during evening prayers. A senior official said it was possible the attack came in retaliation for the cleric's assassination Sunday.
Interior Ministry spokesman Abdur Rauf Chaudhry said it was too soon to say who was behind Monday's attack, but added: "It appears to be sectarian" violence. "It could be a reaction to yesterday's incident," he added.
Tariq Jamil, chief of operations of Karachi police, said the explosion was caused by a "high-intensity bomb" and at least 15 people were killed and more than 35 injured. Most of the victims of the bombing were taken to three hospitals in private vehicles.
Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said President Gen. Pervez Musharraf had expressed grief over the killings and would take an "important step" in response to the incident, but didn't elaborate.
The bombing triggered riots -- the city's second public violence in two days. Hundreds of Shiite youths set fire to two police vehicles and a gas station outside the mosque, and then ransacked two government offices, stealing furniture and torching it at a traffic intersection.
Police fired tear gas, trying to disperse the mob. Six or seven gunshots were heard, but it wasn't clear who fired them.
Mr. Jamil said a vehicle belonging to a bomb-disposal squad was among the vehicles destroyed by rioters.
Dr. Mobarak Ali, at the city's state-run Civil Hospital said one dead child was brought to the hospital and three other people died of their injuries on arrival. He said 10 others were wounded.
The worst damage from the blast appeared to be in the area where people wash up before praying. The dome of mosque was broken. The explosion shattered windows in a tall building opposite the mosque across a major road, leaving shards of glass scattered on the asphalt. Police cordoned off the surrounding area.
Saqlain Raza, a worshipper who had been about to enter the mosque and was parking his motorcycle outside when the blast happened, estimated that about 30 to 35 people were inside the mosque at the time.
"One 3-year-old child was bleeding from the head and stomach," he said. "I carried the boy out and a car took him to hospital."
The explosion was the latest development in a spate of violence that has swept Karachi in the past two days. Nazamuddin Shamzai, a cleric who had been a strong supporter of the former Taliban regime in neighboring Afghanistan, was gunned down in his car Sunday morning.
Pakistan police formed a special task force to investigate the slaying. Mr. Shamzai, who was in his 70s, had met al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.
Witnesses said the assassination team included as many as six gunmen riding in two cars and a motorcycle. They sprayed Mr. Shamzai's car with bullets, killing him and wounding one of his sons, a nephew, a driver and a police bodyguard.
The identities of the killers are unknown and no one has claimed responsibility. Police have issued a sketch of one suspect.
The cleric, from the Sunni branch of Islam, had a large following in Pakistan. The United Action Forum, a coalition of six fundamentalist parties, called for a "complete nationwide strike" Friday to protest his slaying and to pressure police to arrest the attackers.
"We will not sit silent. We will protest against the brutal murder of a great religious personality," Maulana Fazur Rahman, a senior leader of the forum, told reporters as he visited Mr. Shamzai's home to express condolences.
"We will be forced to take other steps if the killers of Nizamuddin Shamzai are not arrested," Mr. Maulana said, without elaborating.
Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali condemned the shooting Sunday as a "dastardly act of terrorism."
Karachi neighborhoods were wracked by unrest after the attack. Police trying to keep order fired tear gas and warning shots to disperse rioters who set fire to banks, shops, a police station and a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant.
On Monday, hundreds of policemen and paramilitary rangers continued their patrols, but residents remained indoors or went quietly about their business against a backdrop of burned-out shopfronts and the carcasses of torched cars.
Religious violence is common in Karachi, Pakistan's biggest city, and is usually blamed on outlawed extremist groups from the Sunni majority and Shiite minority. Places of worship of both branches of Islam are common targets, as are those of minority Christians.
The slaying of Mr. Shamzai, who ran one of Karachi's largest religious schools, came three weeks after a suicide bomber killed 22 worshippers at a Shiite mosque and four days after two car bombings near the U.S. Consul's residence killed one person and injured 40.
On May 7, a suicide bombing at a Shiite Muslim mosque killed 20 people
Again from Pakistan .......
Associated Press May 31, 2004 1:17 p.m.
KARACHI, Pakistan -- A bomb exploded at a Shiite Muslim mosque in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi, killing at least 15 people and injuring more than 35, police said. A day earlier, the city was wracked by violence after a leading pro-Taliban cleric was gunned down.
The blast struck the Imam Bargah Ali Raza mosque during evening prayers. A senior official said it was possible the attack came in retaliation for the cleric's assassination Sunday.
Interior Ministry spokesman Abdur Rauf Chaudhry said it was too soon to say who was behind Monday's attack, but added: "It appears to be sectarian" violence. "It could be a reaction to yesterday's incident," he added.
Tariq Jamil, chief of operations of Karachi police, said the explosion was caused by a "high-intensity bomb" and at least 15 people were killed and more than 35 injured. Most of the victims of the bombing were taken to three hospitals in private vehicles.
Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said President Gen. Pervez Musharraf had expressed grief over the killings and would take an "important step" in response to the incident, but didn't elaborate.
The bombing triggered riots -- the city's second public violence in two days. Hundreds of Shiite youths set fire to two police vehicles and a gas station outside the mosque, and then ransacked two government offices, stealing furniture and torching it at a traffic intersection.
Police fired tear gas, trying to disperse the mob. Six or seven gunshots were heard, but it wasn't clear who fired them.
Mr. Jamil said a vehicle belonging to a bomb-disposal squad was among the vehicles destroyed by rioters.
Dr. Mobarak Ali, at the city's state-run Civil Hospital said one dead child was brought to the hospital and three other people died of their injuries on arrival. He said 10 others were wounded.
The worst damage from the blast appeared to be in the area where people wash up before praying. The dome of mosque was broken. The explosion shattered windows in a tall building opposite the mosque across a major road, leaving shards of glass scattered on the asphalt. Police cordoned off the surrounding area.
Saqlain Raza, a worshipper who had been about to enter the mosque and was parking his motorcycle outside when the blast happened, estimated that about 30 to 35 people were inside the mosque at the time.
"One 3-year-old child was bleeding from the head and stomach," he said. "I carried the boy out and a car took him to hospital."
The explosion was the latest development in a spate of violence that has swept Karachi in the past two days. Nazamuddin Shamzai, a cleric who had been a strong supporter of the former Taliban regime in neighboring Afghanistan, was gunned down in his car Sunday morning.
Pakistan police formed a special task force to investigate the slaying. Mr. Shamzai, who was in his 70s, had met al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.
Witnesses said the assassination team included as many as six gunmen riding in two cars and a motorcycle. They sprayed Mr. Shamzai's car with bullets, killing him and wounding one of his sons, a nephew, a driver and a police bodyguard.
The identities of the killers are unknown and no one has claimed responsibility. Police have issued a sketch of one suspect.
The cleric, from the Sunni branch of Islam, had a large following in Pakistan. The United Action Forum, a coalition of six fundamentalist parties, called for a "complete nationwide strike" Friday to protest his slaying and to pressure police to arrest the attackers.
"We will not sit silent. We will protest against the brutal murder of a great religious personality," Maulana Fazur Rahman, a senior leader of the forum, told reporters as he visited Mr. Shamzai's home to express condolences.
"We will be forced to take other steps if the killers of Nizamuddin Shamzai are not arrested," Mr. Maulana said, without elaborating.
Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali condemned the shooting Sunday as a "dastardly act of terrorism."
Karachi neighborhoods were wracked by unrest after the attack. Police trying to keep order fired tear gas and warning shots to disperse rioters who set fire to banks, shops, a police station and a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant.
On Monday, hundreds of policemen and paramilitary rangers continued their patrols, but residents remained indoors or went quietly about their business against a backdrop of burned-out shopfronts and the carcasses of torched cars.
Religious violence is common in Karachi, Pakistan's biggest city, and is usually blamed on outlawed extremist groups from the Sunni majority and Shiite minority. Places of worship of both branches of Islam are common targets, as are those of minority Christians.
The slaying of Mr. Shamzai, who ran one of Karachi's largest religious schools, came three weeks after a suicide bomber killed 22 worshippers at a Shiite mosque and four days after two car bombings near the U.S. Consul's residence killed one person and injured 40.
On May 7, a suicide bombing at a Shiite Muslim mosque killed 20 people
Again from Pakistan .......