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Afghanistan/South Asia
Bugtis boom pilgrims
2005-03-20
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.
Posted by:Steve White

#8  Lol, Ship! Obviously, a transmissible condition, lol!
Posted by: .com   2005-03-20 5:22:04 PM  

#7  Oh man, a whole tribe with petroductphobia.

Posted by: Shipman   2005-03-20 5:18:31 PM  

#6  The Bugtis probably have enough problems with the stuff they are guilty of without being blamed for everything else.

And stop and think: how can you blame them? If you were part of Pakistan, wouldn't you be trying to secede too?
Posted by: Phil Fraering   2005-03-20 12:35:30 AM  

#5  Salafism is at work here. Plain and simple.
Posted by: Sock Puppet 0’ Doom   2005-03-20 12:30:25 AM  

#4  And anything else invented after the 12th Century.

Except Kalashnikovs. Those they like.
Posted by: Steve White   2005-03-20 12:23:58 AM  

#3  The Bugtis aren't bad, they just have a fanatical hatred of pipelines.
Posted by: Paul Moloney   2005-03-20 12:18:34 AM  

#2  Oh, darn. Not that I'll apologize to that band of cutthroats, but I do hate being wrong.
Posted by: Steve White   2005-03-20 12:04:57 AM  

#1  There is no evidence that the Bugtis had anything to do with this.
Given it was an attack on a Sufi shrine, it is more likely to be Lashkar-e-Jhangvi or some other sectarian fascist group.
Posted by: Paul Moloney   2005-03-20 12:03:54 AM  

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