Bomber attacks Shiites in Pakistan, 10 killed

Associated Press

A suicide attacker opened fire on a Shiite Muslim mosque where worshippers were holding Friday prayers and then detonated his explosives inside, killing at least 10 people in the latest attack targeting the minority sect, police said. The attack in the city of Peshawar also wounded 25 people, said senior police officer Shafiullah Khan. It came as a prayer leader was delivering his Friday sermon, said Khan. Local TV video showed blood splattered on the floor and walls of the mosque. Broken glass littered the floor, and there were holes in the walls and ceiling caused by ball bearings packed in with the bomber's explosives to cause maximum damage. Relatives wailed in grief as rescue workers wheeled wounded victims, their clothes soaked in blood, into a local hospital. No one has claimed responsibility for the bombing. Radical Sunni Muslims who consider Shiites to be heretics have stepped up attacks against the minority sect in Pakistan over the last several years. On Saturday, a bomb that appeared to be targeting Shiites ripped through a bus carrying female university students in the southwest city of Quetta, killing 14 people. Militants then attacked a hospital where wounded victims were taken, killing more people. The militant group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi claimed responsibility for the attack in Quetta and could be suspected in the Peshawar attack as well. The group has carried out many of the attacks against Shiites in Pakistan in recent years, especially in Baluchistan province, where Quetta is the capital.