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ISLAMABAD, April 16 (AFP)-Police and soldiers put on a show of force across Pakistan to prevent sectarian violence as thousands of Shi’ite Muslims commemorated the 7th century martyrdom of the Prophet Mohammad's grandson Imam Hussain. Troops were deployed in major cities and towns, while police commandos perched on rooftops along processional routes, officials and witnesses said. Sniffing dogs searched for bombs, and some 60,000 police, paramilitary and regular troops were on duty in the populous Punjab province, where scores of people have died in sectarian violence in the past few years. "It has been very peaceful. No incidence have been reported so far," said Rafiq Haider, provincial police chief. At least 18 people died in attacks ahead of Ashura, including 15 killed in a grenade blast at a Shi’ite gathering in Malhowali town near Islamabad last Tuesday. That was one of the worst sectarian attacks in the past year and sharply raised tensions ahead of the Ashura rituals. Violence involving Islamists from two different Muslim sects has claimed at least 300 lives across the country over the past two years. Truckloads of police escorted the mourners, while special guards stood alert at mosques and at Shi’ite places of worship throughout the country, said witnesses. Watching the processions from balconies was banned. In the central city of Multan and other "sensitive" areas authorities ordered people to keep their windows shut, said residents. Pakistan's military ruler General Pervez Musharraf made appeals for the nation to put aside all linguistic, sectarian and regional differences. "It is the need of the hour and, in it, lies our survival," said Musharraf. President Muhammad Rafiq Tarar in his Ashura message said, "We must pledge to create unity and fraternity." Ashura marks the culmination of a 10-day ritual by the minority Shi’ite community during Moharram, the first month of the Muslim calendar year. Chanting "Hussain, Hussain" and beating their chests with open palms, the participants, mostly clad in black, paraded through the main roads of Rawalpindi. Holding Alam or black banners representing the battle flag of Hussain and marching behind replicas of the Muslim saint's tomb, many flagellated their bare backs with iron chains fitted with knives. Groups of mourners, including children, recited elegies while some women reverently touched a specially decorated horse symbolizing the one rode by Hussain. Some 350 people were injured as they whipped themselves in various cities in Punjab, while dozens of mourners fainted in the searing heat. Similar processions were conducted in Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta and other cities and towns where arrangements were made to provide on-the-spot medical facilities to the mourners. Ashura processions were also held in the Pakistan-administered part of the disputed Kashmir state. Imam Hussain died, along with his family and associates, in a battle with Ummayed dynasty ruler Yazid in 680 A.D. at Kerbala in Iraq. The majority Sunni and the minority Shi’ite communities equally respect Imam Hussain but they differ on some religious rites. Shi’ites make up about 20 percent of Pakistan's 140 million people.
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