Thousands mourn Karachi bomb dead
Thousands of people attended the funerals of those killed in a double
attack on Shiite Muslims in the Pakistani city of Karachi.
The number of victims of the attacks on Friday rose to 33 overnight,
with 165 injured.
A police official told the AFP news agency more than 10,000 people at
the funeral of 14 Muslim victims were involved. Five Christians should
be buried at a later date.
The attacks – the second in a hospital where victims were treated the
first attack – the target Shiite pilgrims.
Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani called for calm amid fears
of rising tensions between Shiites and Sunnis.
Improving safety in Karachi, including the assembly of mourners.
Pakistan television images of the sports world, where the bodies of 14
victims were many people dressed in black, chest and shouted religious
slogans.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks. Karachi has a long
history of sectarian violence between Sunni and Shiite communities.
The first explosion was charged Friday by a motorcycle bomb target a
bus carrying Shiites to create a religious procession.
Then a bomb exploded at the entrance to the emergency room treatment
Jinnah Hospital where the victims were the first attack.
The attacks came despite tight security in Pakistan Shia religious
Arbaeen the end of the party on Friday with the last day and the most
important of the 40 days of mourning for the grandson of the Prophet
Muhammad.
Forty days in the last party Shiite, a suicide bomber killed 25
Christians in the city.
The religious tensions between majority Shi’ites and minority Sunni
Arabs have increased since the attack in December, and riots broke out.
Pull forces remains high, and paramilitary forces in the city before
dawn amid deadly clashes between rival factions of use.
The schism between Shiites and Sunnis goes back to a dispute shortly
after the death of the Prophet Mohammed, which Muslims turn to.
The Sunnis are still the world’s Shiite majority, an estimated 10% of
all Muslims.