 QUETTA, Pakistan - At least 35 people were killed and scores injured Saturday when a powerful bomb ripped through a crowd of pilgrims as they ate their evening meal near a mosque in southwestern Pakistan, officials said. The apparently home-made device exploded as thousands of devotees gathered at the memorial to a Sufi saint in the remote town of Fatahpur, around 300 kilometres (180 miles) from Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province. It was not immediately clear if the bombing, the bloodiest this year in Pakistan, was a result of longstanding sectarian tensions between rival Shiite and Sunni sects or whether it was linked to a tribal rebellion in the region.
| It can be so hard to tell. |
Officials said no one had claimed responsibility for the attack, which happened at around 10:30 pm (1730 GMT). "I can confirm that 35 bodies have been counted," local district administrator Mahmood Mari told AFP. Many more people were wounded but it was unclear how many, because most of them were rushed to hospitals in nearby areas as the town has only basic medical facilities, he added. Between 10,000 and 20,000 people had gathered Saturday for an annual pilgrimage at the shrine of saint Cheesal Shah, said Syed Kami Shah, the brother of the shrine's custodian. Sufism is a semi-mystical branch of Islam that believes music, dance and song are ways of reaching God. Devotees from the rival Sunni and Shiite sects were at the site, as well as a number of Hindus, Shah added.
| All the excuse any holy man needs to authorize a bombing. |
Many of them had only just sat down to eat when the bomb went off, witnesses said. A second, unexploded bomb was found near the shrine shortly after the first device detonated, mayor Umrani said. It was removed safely. |