Attack on Shi'ite procession kills 22 in Pak

The blast occurred in the town of Hangu in NWFP, during a procession to mark the Shi'ite mourning month of Moharram.

At least 22 people were killed and more than 50 were wounded in an attack on a Shi'ite procession and resulting riots in northwestern Pakistan on Thursday, the local mayor said.

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"We have a confirmed death toll of 22 and it is likely to go up. More than 50 were wounded," Ghaniur Rehman, the mayor of Hangu town told the agency after the blast targeting Shi'ites marking the holy Ashura festival.

Some of the dead included Sunnis killed in subsequent gunfire but the precise tally was not known, Rehman said.