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Karachi tense after burial of suicide bomb victims
Karachi, May 09: Pakistan`s southern city of Karachi was tense on Saturday (May 8) as minority Shi`ite Muslims buried the victims of a suicide bomb attack on a mosque on Friday that killed 15 people and injured more than 125.
Karachi, May 09: Pakistan`s southern city of Karachi was tense on
Saturday (May 8) as minority Shi`ite Muslims buried the
victims of a suicide bomb attack on a mosque on Friday that
killed 15 people and injured more than 125.
A crowd gathered near an Imam Bargah (Shi`ite worship
place) to protest the killing. The police used teargas to
disperse the protesters who hurled stones on passing
vehicles and attempted a sit-in.
Grieving relatives of at least a dozen victims buried
their loved ones as authorities deployed paramilitary
troops at Shi`ite religious sites in the volatile port city
of 14 million people. Additional police were deployed in the city amid fears of further violence.
Witnesses said police used batons to disperse groups of
angry mourners who went on a rampage in various parts of
Karachi.
Some of the protesters suffered minor injuries in
scuffles with the police, who struggled to control the crowds.
The protesters set at least two vehicles on fire,
blocked roads and attacked a police post in a
Shi`ite-dominated area of the city. They also hurled rocks
at vehicles.
Business centres in Shi`ite areas were closed after
community leaders called three days of mourning.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but
it bore the hallmarks of a sectarian attack carried out by
militants from the Sunni Muslim sect, to which the
overwhelming majority of Pakistan`s 150 million people
belong.
Fayyaz Leghari, the city`s police chief of
investigations, said an inquiry was underway to ascertain
the identity of the suicide bomber and the motive for the
attack.
He added that the police had found two mutilated bodies and
suspected one to be that of the bomber.
However, he said it was premature to say whether the
deadliest Sunni Muslim militant group, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi,
was behind the latest attack.