KARACHI,
May 7 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - At least 13 worshippers
were killed and around 100 others injured in a "suicide bomb
attack" on a packed Shiite mosque in the Pakistani city of
Karachi during prayers Friday, May 7, officials said.
"The
death toll can rise further," an Interior Ministry official told
Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The
bomb was detonated among rows of worshippers in the Haideri Mosque,
adjacent to the southern port city's historic Sindh Madarsahtul Islam
School, said Baluchistan provincial government Home Ministry advisor,
Aftab Sheikh.
The
mosque belonged to the minority Shiite Muslim sect while the school
was founded by Pakistan's founding father Mohammad Ali Jinnah.
“Suicide”
Aftab
Sheikh said it had been confirmed the attack was carried out by a
suicide bomber.
"I
can confirm it now," he said in a statement on a private
television channel.
Panic
spread in the area and volunteers ferried casualties to hospitals in
cars, auto-rickshaws and on motor bikes, witnesses said.
The
blast destroyed part of the mosque roof and shattered windows,
witnesses said.
"A
fireball was seen emerging from the site of the blast," injured
Mushtaq Ali said. "I was hurt by a splinter."
Sheikh
said some 50 people had been wounded and several had their limbs
severed. But al-Jazeera correspondent put the wounded at over a
hundred.
Blood
spattered on the floor and severed limbs were seen lying in the
mosque. Many of the injured were reported in critical condition.
State
Of Emergency
Police
cordoned off the mosque as angry people from both Sunni and Shiite
communities chanting slogans against the blast gathered outside the
mosque.
Angry
youths hurled rocks, damaging several official vehicles.
A
state of emergency has been declared in the main Civil Hospital where
more than dozens of people have been admitted with head and abdomen
injuries. Many were suffering burns.
Appeals
for blood were made through public address systems fitted on private
vehicles.
Weeping
relatives of the victims were crying and embracing each other amid
scenes of chaos at the hospital.
Hospital
officials said eight of the bodies had been identified.
Rizwan
Edhi, a senior official of a private ambulance service said
"several people died in my arms".
‘Strongly
Condemned’
Pakistani
President Pervez Musharraf "strongly condemned the attack",
his office said.
"He
has directed the administration to carry out thorough investigations
and reiterated the government's resolve to eliminate terrorism."
Musharraf
has also directed the provincial government "to extend all
possible relief to the injured."
The
attack follows a car bombing Monday, May 4, which killed three Chinese
engineers in the coastal town of Gwadar, some 450 kilometers (280
miles) west of Karachi.
Scores
of Pakistanis have been killed in suspicious sectarian violence over
the past year.
Some
48 people were killed in an attack on a Shiite religious procession in
the southwestern city of Quetta in March.
A
bloody attack on a Shiite mosque in Quetta also left 48 people dead
and sparked violent protests in July.
Shiites
form 20 percent of the country's 145 million population. Sectarian
violence involving militants from the two sects have claimed more than
4,000 people over the past several years across the country.
