No Immediate Claim

By Kamran Haider and Mian Khursheed in Islamabad and Hasan Mahmood in Orakzai; Editing by Michael Georgy, *Bomb kills six at Sufi shrine in eastern Pakistan* - Reuters - London, UK
Monday, October 25, 2010

A bomb exploded at the gate of a Sufi shrine in Pakistan's eastern city of Pak Pattan on Monday, killing six people, a city government official said.

The explosive was planted on a motorcycle, city police chief Mohammad Kashif told Reuters by telephone.

"According to initial reports, two men came on the motorcycle and parked it near the gate just minutes before the blast," he said, adding 12 people were also wounded in the explosion.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack but Taliban militants have in the past attacked Sufi shrines.

Pakistan's U.S.-backed government faces a stubborn Taliban insurgency.

Hard-line Taliban militants generally abhor the Sufi strand of Islam and disapprove of visiting shrines, which is popular with many Pakistanis.

Separately, a roadside bomb explosion killed three people and wounded two in the northwestern tribal region of Orakzai, said a regional government official.

Orakzai was a known sanctuary for al Qaeda-linked militants. Security forces declared victory over the Taliban there in June but still face pockets of resistance.

Picture: Security officials survey the area outside a Sufi shrine after it was hit by a bomb blast in Pak Pattan, located in Punjab province October 25, 2010. Photo: Reuters/Stringer.