Militants kill 40 in Pakistan bomb blast

A FRESH explosion of sectarian violence in Pakistan in which 40 people were killed is a fight-back by hardcore Islamic militants, many trained of which are by al-Qaida, investigators and analysts have said.

"It's difficult to say what will follow now but things are going from bad to worse," said Farooq Awan, senior police investigator in the southern city of Karachi, which has been riven by sectarian violence since the 1980s.

Fanatics among Shiites, a 20% minority in Pakistan where more than 95% of the 150 million people are Muslims, and Sunnis are locked in a cycle of revenge and counter-revenge attacks just a week before the start of the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.