An Abhorrent Act

ABNA Staff Writer, *Wahhabis targeted Sufi shrine in NW Pakistan, 35 died, Injured* Ahlul Bayt News Agency - Tehran, Iran; Saturday, March 5, 2011

At least ten worshippers were killed and 25 others injured in a bomb blast in mosque in the premises of a Sufi shrine in northwest Pakistan on Friday, police said.

The blast ripped through the mosque in Nowshera, a district some km from Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtookhwa, shortly after Friday prayers.

A police officer said that nine people were killed. Witnesses said they saw ten bodies. A child was among the victims, doctors said.

Nearly 25 people were injured and doctors said eight were in critical condition. The injured were transferred to hospitals in Peshawar and nearby towns.

Witnesses said the blast took place as the worshippers ended prayers and were sitting for the traditions food called ‘langar’.

No group claimed responsibility for the blast. The provincial ministers pointed finger at the Taliban militants, who in the past attacked Sufi shrines.

Police sources said the bomb was attached to a cupboard inside the mosque and was detonated with the help of remote control.

TV footage showed scattered shoes and caps of the victims in the mosque. Windows were blown out by the blast, which also caused extensive damage to the walls of the mosque.

Locals said there had been no security in the shrine premises despite several recent attacks in parts of the country.

Pakistani Taliban oppose visiting Sufi shrine and consider it as ‘un-Islamic’.

The Taliban have claimed responsibility for several recent attacks on Sufi shrines in cities across Pakistan, including Lahore and Karachi.

President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani condemned the bomb blast in the mosque.

In a message, Zardari described the attack as an 'abhorrent act' and said its perpetrators were the enemies of Islam.

'The government would continue to take a firm stand against extremist and terrorist elements across the country and would not be cowed down by such acts of violence,' he said.

On June 12, 2009, at least six persons were killed and over 90 injured when a suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden truck into a mosque within an army supply depot in the city.