Pakistan suicide bomber kills 53 | Bangkok Post: breakingnews

QUETTA, Pakistan: At least 53 people were killed and 197 wounded on Friday in a suicide bombing targeting a Shiite Muslim rally in the southwestern city of Quetta, police said.

The bomber was among the 450-strong crowd and detonated on reaching the main square in the city, according to police. The explosion triggered chaotic scenes, with an angry mob starting fires and shooting into the air while others fled or lay on the ground to avoid the gunfire, they added. "According to the reports collected from hospitals, 53 people have been killed and 197 have been injured," Sardar Khan, chief of Quetta's police control room, told AFP by telephone. It was the latest in a string of apparent sectarian attacks, after three suicide bombers killed 31 people and wounded hundreds more on Wednesday at a Shiite mourning procession in the eastern city of Lahore. Friday's rally was held to mark Al-Quds day, an international event staged each year by the Shiite community to oppose Israel's control of Jerusalem and show solidarity with Palestinian Muslims. Shiite Muslims are a minority in Pakistan, accounting for around a fifth of the country's 160 million population, which is dominated by Sunnis. Malik Iqbal, police chief for Baluchistan province, said that rally organisers had been warned to use a different route in case of terror attacks. Police were forced to quell unrest after the bombing, Khan said. "An angry mob tried to set on fire a private building and vehicles. Some of the participants were armed and they were firing in the air. They also set on fire some bicycles and motorcycles," said Khan. Khan said that 40 dead bodies and 159 injured people were brought to Quetta's combined military hospital after the blast, while another nine bodies and 36 injured were taken to the main Quetta civil hospital. Four more dead bodies and two injured were taken to the Bolan medical complex, he said. Local television channel AaJ said one of its drivers had been killed in the blast, while there were reports of several other journalists injured in the incident. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani strongly condemned the bomb blast and called for an immediate inquiry into the incident. The US embassy also condemned the bombing. Militants have launched a series of attacks in Pakistan as Muslims marked the final days of the holy month of Ramadan. Earlier, at least one man was killed and four wounded...