Three dead, 50 injured in bomb targeting Shi'ites in Pakistan

LAHORE • At least three people were killed and 50 others wounded when a bomb explosion ripped through a Shi'ite Muslim procession in central Pakistan yesterday, officials said.

Security was high as the religious minority marked Ashura during the holy month of Muharram, a flashpoint for sectarian violence in previous years.

"We have confirmation of three dead and 50 injured from the blast at the procession site," said a government official in the city of Bahawalnagar, in Punjab province.

Social media videos showed bleeding victims lying on a road being assisted by members of the public.

A local police officer, Mr Kashif Hussain, also confirmed the death toll to AFP, adding: "The nature of the explosion is not yet clear as a team is still collecting evidence from the scene."

The authorities have suspended mobile phone services in major cities as a security measure during Ashura processions. Residents in many urban centres were experiencing signal jams yesterday. The streets leading to procession routes were also blocked.

Ashura commemorates the killing of Prophet Mohammed's grandson Hussain at the Battle of Karbala in 680 AD - the defining moment of the religion's schism and the birth of Shi'ite Islam.

The procession later resumed and people continued with the ceremonies, the officials said.

Sectarian violence - in particular by Sunni hardliners against the Shi'ites who make up roughly 20 per cent of Pakistan's 220 million people - has erupted in fits and bursts for decades across the country.

Anti-Shi'ite militant groups have bombed shrines and targeted Ashura processions in attacks that have killed thousands. Although Hussain is equally revered by Sunnis, hardliners oppose the public mourning of his martyrdom.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE