5 dead in Karachi mosque attack
retrieved from cnn.com
KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) -- A suicide bomber blew himself up during evening prayers at a Shiite mosque in the southern city of Karachi, injuring more than a dozen people, after a shootout that left another attacker, a police officer and a guard dead. A worshipper was also killed in the blast.
A crowd outraged by the attack went on a rampage afterwards, torching cars and shops nearby. Eight people were injured in Monday's rampage.
The attack occurred during evening prayers at the Madinatul Ilm Imambargah in eastern Karachi, said Asif Ijaz, a Karachi police official.
The three attackers stole an automatic weapon from a police guard who was posted outside the mosque and shot him to death, Ijaz said.
Other policemen nearby opened fire, killing one of the attackers and injuring another. The guard was also killed in the shootout.
The third attacker managed to enter the mosque and detonate a bomb strapped to his body.
One worshipper died and four were seriously injured in the blast. Sixteen others were treated at local hospitals, said Zafar Hussain, an administrator of the mosque.
Police said the blast was weak, however.
"It appeared to be a low-intensity bomb because it did not cause major damage," said Mushtaq Shah, chief of police operations in Karachi.
About 1,000 outraged Shiites, many beating their chests in mourning, burned about a dozen vehicles, a restaurant, two gas stations and eight shops near the mosque, Ijaz said.
Two electricity transformers were also set on fire, plunging the mosque and the neighborhood into darkness, and mobs burned tires.
The suicide bomber was believed to be a man in his 20s.
Rauf Siddiqi, home minister of Sindh province of which Karachi is the capital, condemned the bombing and said security has been put on "high alert."
"These incidents are happening one after the other. We are trying to find a link between them," he told the private Geo television station. "This is a criminal and merciless attack."
The attack came three days after a suspected suicide bomber attacked a Shiite religious gathering during a festival at a shrine near Islamabad, Pakistan's capital, killing about 20 people and injuring dozens of others. (Bomb blast at Pakistan shrine)
Political and sectarian violence between radical groups within the majority Sunni and minority Shiite Muslims is common in Karachi.
Earlier in the day, assailants shot dead a senior official from Pakistan's largest Islamic group, after he was kidnapped from a funeral for another slain member of the party, police said.
Police found the body of Aslam Mujahid, 47, riddled with bullets near a college in Karachi's eastern Korangi neighborhood, hours after he was kidnapped, said Tariq Jamil, a senior Karachi police official.
KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) -- A suicide bomber blew himself up during evening prayers at a Shiite mosque in the southern city of Karachi, injuring more than a dozen people, after a shootout that left another attacker, a police officer and a guard dead. A worshipper was also killed in the blast.
A crowd outraged by the attack went on a rampage afterwards, torching cars and shops nearby. Eight people were injured in Monday's rampage.
The attack occurred during evening prayers at the Madinatul Ilm Imambargah in eastern Karachi, said Asif Ijaz, a Karachi police official.
The three attackers stole an automatic weapon from a police guard who was posted outside the mosque and shot him to death, Ijaz said.
Other policemen nearby opened fire, killing one of the attackers and injuring another. The guard was also killed in the shootout.
The third attacker managed to enter the mosque and detonate a bomb strapped to his body.
One worshipper died and four were seriously injured in the blast. Sixteen others were treated at local hospitals, said Zafar Hussain, an administrator of the mosque.
Police said the blast was weak, however.
"It appeared to be a low-intensity bomb because it did not cause major damage," said Mushtaq Shah, chief of police operations in Karachi.
About 1,000 outraged Shiites, many beating their chests in mourning, burned about a dozen vehicles, a restaurant, two gas stations and eight shops near the mosque, Ijaz said.
Two electricity transformers were also set on fire, plunging the mosque and the neighborhood into darkness, and mobs burned tires.
The suicide bomber was believed to be a man in his 20s.
Rauf Siddiqi, home minister of Sindh province of which Karachi is the capital, condemned the bombing and said security has been put on "high alert."
"These incidents are happening one after the other. We are trying to find a link between them," he told the private Geo television station. "This is a criminal and merciless attack."
The attack came three days after a suspected suicide bomber attacked a Shiite religious gathering during a festival at a shrine near Islamabad, Pakistan's capital, killing about 20 people and injuring dozens of others. (Bomb blast at Pakistan shrine)
Political and sectarian violence between radical groups within the majority Sunni and minority Shiite Muslims is common in Karachi.
Earlier in the day, assailants shot dead a senior official from Pakistan's largest Islamic group, after he was kidnapped from a funeral for another slain member of the party, police said.
Police found the body of Aslam Mujahid, 47, riddled with bullets near a college in Karachi's eastern Korangi neighborhood, hours after he was kidnapped, said Tariq Jamil, a senior Karachi police official.
posted by Tara at 9:10 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home