Toll in Pakistan violence touches 35

At least 35 people were killed and dozens wounded in Pakistan on Thursday in a suicide bombing on a Shi'ite Muslim procession and subsequent violence.

At least 35 people were killed and dozens wounded in Pakistan on Thursday in a suicide bombing on a Shi'ite Muslim procession and subsequent violence on the holiest day of the year for the religious minority.

HT Image

The bombing targeted a procession in the town of Hangu in North West Frontier Province to mark Ashura, the end of 10 days of mourning for Shi'ites. Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao said there had been three blasts.

Pakistan has suffered Islamist sectarian violence for years, most of it directed by majority Sunni Muslims against Shi'ites.

Analysts say that in recent years attacks by Sunni groups linked to Al Qaeda have appeared to have a broader aim of destabilising the rule of President Pervez Musharraf and his alliance with Washington in the US-led war on terrorism. Unidentified gunmen also opened fire on a bus outside Hangu, killing four passengers, including a woman, and injuring two, officials said.

Superintendent Mohammad Ayub of the Hangu police said four people died in a shootout during a curfew imposed after the bombing -- one policeman, a soldier, and two civilians.

In neighbouring Afghanistan, at least five people were killed and 27 wounded in clashes between Shi'ites and Sunnis during the Ashura commemoration in the western town of Herat.

Abdul Rashid, medical superintendent at Hangu hospital, said 29 people had been confirmed dead there. "Some of them have bullet wounds. All of them are Shi'ites."

A leader of the procession, Maulana Khurshid Anwar, said a bomb exploded near a stage as he was about to address mourners.

Enraged Shi'ites set shops and a bank on fire and fired shots into the air in the town 200 km west of Islamabad.

NWFP police chief Riffat Pasha said the bombing was a suicide attack and troops and armoured personnel carriers were sent to restore order.