Suicide bombing kills 22 Shiites

A suicide bombing ripped through a Shiite Muslim procession yesterday in northwestern Pakistan, sparking riots during the Muslim sect's most important holiday. At least 22 people were killed and dozens injured, officials said.

Army troops took control of the area and a curfew was imposed as the Shiites vented their anger by burning shops and cars in Hangu, about 200km southwest of the capital, Islamabad, district police chief Ayub Khan said.

Ghani ur-Rehman, the top district administrator, said 22 people were reported killed and more than 50 wounded. He said more than 60 percent of the town bazaar had been burned down in the violence that following the bombing.

Akram Durrani, the top elected official in the province, said a preliminary investigation showed the attack was a suicide bombing. He announced a judicial inquiry into the attack.

A security official said that some of the fatalities died in gunfire between battling factions in the town after the bombing.

Police mounted road blocks on the road to Hangu. Reporters were barred from passing beyond Ustarzai, a town about 25km from the scene of the attack. Police even blocked three ambulances.

"We have orders that no one is allowed beyond this point," said Maqbali Khan, an officer commanding about 20 police at a barricade. He said that angry protesters in Hangu were burning vehicles. Soon after he spoke, two trucks of police from an anti-terrorist squad drove past the road block toward the town.

Mir Faisal, a local government chief in Hangu, said smoke was hanging over the town because of fires in the bazaar and he could hear gunfire. He said that army and paramilitary troops had arrived but it was still too dangerous to go outside.

"Things are tense and we can't go out," he said.

Hangu Mayor Ghani Ur-Rahman said the situation was under control by early afternoon. He said dozens were injured, although Sunni and Shiite leaders were helping to calm the situation.

The explosion hit a procession of hundreds of people in a bazaar soon after it emerged from the main Shiite mosque in the mid morning.

"The situation is very grave there. People are fighting. Police are trying to control them. Our priority is to get the injured to hospital, but angry and emotional processions are attacking police vehicles and even ambulances," said a senior Interior Ministry official.

Sunni and Shiite clerics in Hangu used mosque loudspeakers to urge the faithful to calm down and avoid further violence, which could spread to other processions across Pakistan.

A prominent Shiite cleric, Allama Mehdi Najfi, in the southwestern city of Quetta said, "This attack has spread anger among our people throughout the country, but I appeal to them not to clash with any member of other religious sects."

The attack targeted Shiites observing Ashoura, the most revered religious holiday of their faith. The event marks the 7th century death of the Imam Hussain, a grandson of the Prophet Mohammed. Hussain's death fueled a rivalry between Shiites and Sunnis over who should succeed the prophet.

During Ashoura, Shiites dressed in black weep, pound their chests and the flail their backs with chains and blades as they mourn Hussain's death.