A suicide bombing tore through a procession of Shiite Muslims in Pakistan"s southern port city of Karachi on Monday, killing at least 30 people and injuring more than 80, officials said, according to dpa. Hundreds of Shiite mourners were marching on the main M A Jinnah Road lined with multi-storey buildings when the attacker detonated his explosives close to the front of the procession. "At least 30 people are confirmed dead and more than 80 others wounded," Hashim Raza Zaidi, the top health official in the province Sindh, of which Karachi is the capital, told Geo television. Television images from the scene of the blast showed pools of blood and several damaged police cars and ambulances that were moving ahead of the procession. A helicopter hovered overhead. The attack sparked riots, with mobs burning more than 400 shops and 68 vehicles. Karachi Mayor Mustafa Kamal said the attack was aimed at causing tension between Shiites and Sunni Muslims, and to disturb peace in the city. He called upon both sects to exercise restraint. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but Pakistan"s Interior Minister Rehman Malik blamed Islamist insurgents. Malik said Taliban, al-Qaeda and Sunni militant groups had formed a "triangular syndicate" to destabilize the country. He condemned the violence that followed the suicide blast, and said paramilitary troops had taken control of the troubled districts. The attack took place despite deployment of more than 10,000 police and paramilitary troops in Karachi to provide security for the religious processions. Monday marked Ashura, the climax of the holy month of Muharram. Shiite Muslims commemorate this annual religious festival to mourn the killing of Prophet Mohammed"s grandson, Imam Hussein, in the year 680. The holy month often sees deadly sectarian violence between majority Sunnis and minority Shiites, who make up around 15 per cent of Pakistan"s population of nearly 170 million. Monday"s bombing came one day after a suicide attacker blew himself up among Shiites holding a march in the Pakistan-controlled part of the disputed Kashmir region, killing at least eight people.
