Pakistan blast: Shias killed in Khanpur procession

An explosion has killed at least 16 people at a Shia religious procession in the central Pakistani city of Khanpur, officials say.

It is not known whether the blast was deliberately set off.

"We are investigating to see if this was a bombing or an accident," a police official told Reuters news agency.

In recent years, there have been a number of bomb blasts and shootings targeting the minority Shia community, carried out by Sunni militants.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-16567052


Iraq bomb blast: Death toll crosses 50
BASRA ( Iraq): A suicide bomber disguised as a policeman killed at least 53 people and wounded scores in an attack on Shia Muslim pilgrims at a checkpoint on Saturday.

The bombing at the end of Arbain, one of the main religious observances in the Shia calendar, was the worst such incident this year, amid a political crisis and renewed fears of a resurgence of sectarian violence.

"A terrorist wearing a police uniform and carrying fake police ID managed to reach a police checkpoint and blew himself up among police and pilgrims," said a police official at the scene of the bombing . The pilgrims had been on their way to a major Shia mosque to the west of Basra, police said.

Security forces sealed off the main hospital in Basra, fearing further attacks as soldiers , police and civilians rushed blood-covered victims to the hospital.

Some of the wounded were stuffed into car trunks. Hundreds of wailing relatives packed into the city morgue searching for casualties. One woman lay on the floor screaming for her dead son and covering her head with dust from the ground in a traditional expression of grief.

Riyadh Abdul-Ameer , director of the Basra health office, said the blast killed 53 people , with another 130 wounded.

The explosion came as Shiites commemorate the climax of Arbaeen , which marks the end of 40 days of mourning following the anniversary of the death of Imam Hussein, a revered Shia figure. Pilgrims who cannot make it to the holy city of Karbala , south of Baghdad, often travel to other sacred sites like the shrine near Zubair.

Majid Hussein, a government employee, was one of the pilgrims going to the shrine. He said people began running in panic when they heard a loud explosion.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Suicide-attack-in-Iraq-kills-53-Shia-pilgrims/articleshow/11494045.cms

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