An explosion, apparently caused by a suicide bomber, ripped through a Shiite Muslim mosque in an eastern Pakistani city during prayers yesterday, killing at least 14 people and injuring dozens of others, officials said.
Police said that more than 100 people -- and possibly as many as 500 -- were inside the mosque in the center of Sialkot city at the time of the blast, which triggered a riot by outraged worshippers.
Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao said 14 people were killed and dozens were injured, but said he had no information about what caused the explosion.
Nisar Ahmed, police chief in Sialkot, said that at least 10 people were killed. "Dozens of people have been taken to hospital in critical condition, and I think the casualties and death toll will rise," he told reporters.
Another official at the police control room in Sialkot said the blast left a crater inside the mosque and had caused severe damage to the walls and shattered windows.
Ahmed said body parts were scattered inside the mosque, and a mob was preventing police from entering inside. People had started pelting police with bricks and stones and wrecking property, torching at least one motorbike.
"I'm trying to handle the situation, I'm holding talks with their elders. I'm telling them we've come to help them," Ahmed said.
He said that according to witnesses, a man with a briefcase entered the mosque shortly before the blast and the briefcase had exploded. "Based on this account, I think it's a suicide attack," the police chief said.
Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed confirmed the blast but said he had no details on casualties. "This is the work of enemies of Pakistan and enemies of Islam, and we condemn it,'' he told reporters.
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