A suicide bomber attacked a parade of worshippers on Monday in Karachi, killing at least 30 people and wounding scores more in the latest attack targeting Pakistan's minority Shia Muslims.
The bomber detonated explosives as tens of thousands of Shias processed through a main street to mark the holy day of Ashura.
Live television footage showed the blast and smoke billowing from the scene.
Violence broke out in the aftermath of the bombing, with outraged Shias at the procession firing shots in the air, according to Raja Umer Khatab, a police officer. An Associated Press reporter at the scene said others used stones to pelt police and paramilitary forces, who had been guarding the march, in anger over the blast.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, which comes amid increased Taliban attacks in Pakistan.
Mustafa Kamal, the mayor of Pakistan's largest city, called for calm.
"I want to appeal to the people, to my brothers, my elders to stay calm. I am hearing people are clashing with police and doctors. Please do not do that. That is what terrorists are aiming at. They want to see this city again on fire," he said.
Security has been tightened across Pakistan for Ashura, which is the 10th day of the holy month of Muharram, a month of mourning commemorating the seventh-century death Imam Hussein, a grandson of the Prophet Mohammed and one of Islam's holiest martyrs. Muharram has often been marred by bombings and fighting between Pakistan's Sunni Muslim majority and its Shia minority. Some parts of the Muslim world celebrated Ashura on Sunday.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/6901173/Pakistan-suicide-bomber-kills-30-in-Ashura-attack.html
Topic: Pakistan suicide bomber kills 30 in Ashura attack (Read 577 times)