39 killed in Pak shrine blast [Old news] 21 March 2005
AFP, Quetta
Police said yesterday they were investigating if a suicide bomber had detonated a powerful bomb that killed 39 devotees at a Muslim shrine in southwestern Pakistan.
The bomb exploded during a memorial to a Sufi saint late Saturday in the remote town of Fatahpur, 300km from Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province, as worshippers ate their evening meal.
"The death toll has risen to 39 and 16 people are injured, some seriously," director of rural police Akbar Lasi told AFP yesterday.
"Investigators have reached the site of the blast and are collecting evidence," Baluchistan police chief Chaudhry Muhammad Yaqub told AFP.
"We are trying to ascertain whether it was a suicide bombing, because body of a man close to the blast site had been ripped into small pieces," Yaqub said.
He said the blast was caused by a home-made explosive device detonated by a timer.
Officials said no one had claimed responsibility for the attack, which happened at around 10:30 pm (1730 GMT).
It could have been related to sectarian violence plaguing Pakistan's Muslim community or be the work of renegade tribesmen waging a bloody struggle for more jobs, Yaqub said.
It could also have been targeted at the custodian of the shrine, Sadiq Ali Shah, who escaped unhurt, he said.
Shah has been in a dispute with relatives over the custody of the shrine and last year also survived an assassination attempt, Yaqub said.
The blast occurred as between 10,000 and 20,000 people had gathered for an annual pilgrimage at the shrine of saint Cheesal Shah, said Syed Kamil Shah, the brother of the shrine's custodian.
As well as devotees of Sufism -- a semi-mystical branch of Islam that believes music, dance and song are ways of reaching God -- followers of the rival Sunni and Shia sects were at the site with a number of Hindus, Shah said.
Many of them had only just sat down to eat when the bomb went off, witnesses said.
"The food was being handed out amongst the devotees when there was a huge, loud blast," pilgrim Mohammad Midhal told AFP.
"Everyone was wailing, they were covered in blood, staggering around and lifting up people to see if they were injured or even alive.
"It was total chaos because everything was so crowded."
A second, unexploded bomb was found near the shrine shortly after the first device detonated, Mohammad Amin Umrani, the mayor of neighbouring Naseerabad, told AFP. It was removed safely.
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
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Tuesday, October 11, 2005
39 killed in Pak [Sufi] shrine blast
39 killed in Pak shrine blast [Old news] 21 March 2005
AFP, Quetta
Police said yesterday they were investigating if a suicide bomber had detonated a powerful bomb that killed 39 devotees at a Muslim shrine in southwestern Pakistan.
The bomb exploded during a memorial to a Sufi saint late Saturday in the remote town of Fatahpur, 300km from Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province, as worshippers ate their evening meal.
"The death toll has risen to 39 and 16 people are injured, some seriously," director of rural police Akbar Lasi told AFP yesterday.
"Investigators have reached the site of the blast and are collecting evidence," Baluchistan police chief Chaudhry Muhammad Yaqub told AFP.
"We are trying to ascertain whether it was a suicide bombing, because body of a man close to the blast site had been ripped into small pieces," Yaqub said.
He said the blast was caused by a home-made explosive device detonated by a timer.
Officials said no one had claimed responsibility for the attack, which happened at around 10:30 pm (1730 GMT).
It could have been related to sectarian violence plaguing Pakistan's Muslim community or be the work of renegade tribesmen waging a bloody struggle for more jobs, Yaqub said.
It could also have been targeted at the custodian of the shrine, Sadiq Ali Shah, who escaped unhurt, he said.
Shah has been in a dispute with relatives over the custody of the shrine and last year also survived an assassination attempt, Yaqub said.
The blast occurred as between 10,000 and 20,000 people had gathered for an annual pilgrimage at the shrine of saint Cheesal Shah, said Syed Kamil Shah, the brother of the shrine's custodian.
As well as devotees of Sufism -- a semi-mystical branch of Islam that believes music, dance and song are ways of reaching God -- followers of the rival Sunni and Shia sects were at the site with a number of Hindus, Shah said.
Many of them had only just sat down to eat when the bomb went off, witnesses said.
"The food was being handed out amongst the devotees when there was a huge, loud blast," pilgrim Mohammad Midhal told AFP.
"Everyone was wailing, they were covered in blood, staggering around and lifting up people to see if they were injured or even alive.
"It was total chaos because everything was so crowded."
A second, unexploded bomb was found near the shrine shortly after the first device detonated, Mohammad Amin Umrani, the mayor of neighbouring Naseerabad, told AFP. It was removed safely.
AFP, Quetta
Police said yesterday they were investigating if a suicide bomber had detonated a powerful bomb that killed 39 devotees at a Muslim shrine in southwestern Pakistan.
The bomb exploded during a memorial to a Sufi saint late Saturday in the remote town of Fatahpur, 300km from Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province, as worshippers ate their evening meal.
"The death toll has risen to 39 and 16 people are injured, some seriously," director of rural police Akbar Lasi told AFP yesterday.
"Investigators have reached the site of the blast and are collecting evidence," Baluchistan police chief Chaudhry Muhammad Yaqub told AFP.
"We are trying to ascertain whether it was a suicide bombing, because body of a man close to the blast site had been ripped into small pieces," Yaqub said.
He said the blast was caused by a home-made explosive device detonated by a timer.
Officials said no one had claimed responsibility for the attack, which happened at around 10:30 pm (1730 GMT).
It could have been related to sectarian violence plaguing Pakistan's Muslim community or be the work of renegade tribesmen waging a bloody struggle for more jobs, Yaqub said.
It could also have been targeted at the custodian of the shrine, Sadiq Ali Shah, who escaped unhurt, he said.
Shah has been in a dispute with relatives over the custody of the shrine and last year also survived an assassination attempt, Yaqub said.
The blast occurred as between 10,000 and 20,000 people had gathered for an annual pilgrimage at the shrine of saint Cheesal Shah, said Syed Kamil Shah, the brother of the shrine's custodian.
As well as devotees of Sufism -- a semi-mystical branch of Islam that believes music, dance and song are ways of reaching God -- followers of the rival Sunni and Shia sects were at the site with a number of Hindus, Shah said.
Many of them had only just sat down to eat when the bomb went off, witnesses said.
"The food was being handed out amongst the devotees when there was a huge, loud blast," pilgrim Mohammad Midhal told AFP.
"Everyone was wailing, they were covered in blood, staggering around and lifting up people to see if they were injured or even alive.
"It was total chaos because everything was so crowded."
A second, unexploded bomb was found near the shrine shortly after the first device detonated, Mohammad Amin Umrani, the mayor of neighbouring Naseerabad, told AFP. It was removed safely.
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