.Pakistan: Riots erupt after Shiite mosque bombing
DERA GHAZI KHAN, Pakistan (AP) - Hundreds of Shiite Muslims angered over a bloody suicide attack outside a mosque burned a police station in central Pakistan on Friday, police and witnesses said.
City police chief Maqsood Ahmed said the protesters also damaged some shops and disrupted traffic in various parts of the city of Dera Ghazi Khan by burning tires, increasing turmoil in a country already battling militancy along the Afghan border and tension with India over the Mumbai terrorist attacks.
Ahmed said the protesters were demanding the arrest of those who orchestrated the attack late Thursday, and that officers were seeking help from Shiite leaders to restore order.
The violence came hours before the funerals for at least 27 people who died in the blast, which occurred as a crowd streamed into a Shiite mosque for an evening prayer ceremony. No one claimed responsibility for the bombing.
Authorities usually blame extremist Sunni militant groups for such attacks. Although most of Pakistan's majority Sunni and minority Shiites live peacefully, extremists on both sides often target each other's leaders and Shiite rallies and places of worship are often attacked.
The Sunni-Shiite schism over the true heir to Islam's Prophet Muhammad dates back to the seventh century.
Meanwhile, suspected militants shot and killed two alleged U.S. spies in Miran Shah, the main town in the North Waziristan tribal region near Afghanistan, said Tahir Khan, a tribal police official.
Khan said the bodies were spotted early Friday. Both men were identified as Pakistanis, with notes pinned to their bodies that warned others to learn a lesson from their fate, he said.
Insurgents have killed nearly two dozen suspected U.S. spies in recent months.
Also Friday, a suicide car bomber blew himself up in the troubled Khyber tribal region after tribal police signaled him to halt during a routine check, said Bakhtiar Khan, a government official.
He said four passers-by and two policemen were injured in the blast.
MyWay
It's a full court press, but unfortunately for us, we are not even in the right game.
City police chief Maqsood Ahmed said the protesters also damaged some shops and disrupted traffic in various parts of the city of Dera Ghazi Khan by burning tires, increasing turmoil in a country already battling militancy along the Afghan border and tension with India over the Mumbai terrorist attacks.
Ahmed said the protesters were demanding the arrest of those who orchestrated the attack late Thursday, and that officers were seeking help from Shiite leaders to restore order.
The violence came hours before the funerals for at least 27 people who died in the blast, which occurred as a crowd streamed into a Shiite mosque for an evening prayer ceremony. No one claimed responsibility for the bombing.
Authorities usually blame extremist Sunni militant groups for such attacks. Although most of Pakistan's majority Sunni and minority Shiites live peacefully, extremists on both sides often target each other's leaders and Shiite rallies and places of worship are often attacked.
The Sunni-Shiite schism over the true heir to Islam's Prophet Muhammad dates back to the seventh century.
Meanwhile, suspected militants shot and killed two alleged U.S. spies in Miran Shah, the main town in the North Waziristan tribal region near Afghanistan, said Tahir Khan, a tribal police official.
Khan said the bodies were spotted early Friday. Both men were identified as Pakistanis, with notes pinned to their bodies that warned others to learn a lesson from their fate, he said.
Insurgents have killed nearly two dozen suspected U.S. spies in recent months.
Also Friday, a suicide car bomber blew himself up in the troubled Khyber tribal region after tribal police signaled him to halt during a routine check, said Bakhtiar Khan, a government official.
He said four passers-by and two policemen were injured in the blast.
MyWay
It's a full court press, but unfortunately for us, we are not even in the right game.
posted by madtom at 8:52 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home