Karachi: Shouting anti-Taliban slogans and
beating their chests, thousands of mourners on Saturday attended the
collective burial procession of 21 people killed in the twin
bombings in Pakistan`s commercial hub as the death toll from
the assault rose to 33.
Sindh`s Health Minister Sagheer Ahmed confirmed the
death of 33 people in the two bomb attacks and put the toll of
injured to 167.
The casualties were caused when a suicide bomber here
rammed his explosives-rigged motorcycle into a bus packed with
Shia mourners during the processions to mark the festival of
Arbaeen and in an attack on the Jinnah hospital which was
treating the victims of the first bomb strike yesterday.
Muslims every year mark Arbaeen, the final day of the
40-day mourning period for Prophet Mohammad`s grandson Imam
Hussein who was killed along with his family and friends in
the Iraqi city of Karbala in 681 A.D.
The TV channels broadcast live footage of the funerals
showing men and women clad in black and carrying black flags
beating their chest. The mourners raised anti-Taliban slogans
when the bodies of the victims were brought for the funeral.
The mourners demanded speedy justice and urged the
government to take immediate steps to arrest the culprits
guilty of killing innocent men, women and children.
PTI
