Bomb kills 30 on Shi’ite holy day

A SUICIDE bombing targeting a Shi’ite Muslim procession in Pakistan’s largest city of Karachi killed 25 people and wounded dozens more yesterday, as Shi’ites across the country marked the key holy day of Ashoura.

Violence broke out in the aftermath of the bombing, with shots fired into the air and outraged Shi’ites hurling stones at security forces, who had been guarding the march, for their failure to prevent it.

The bombing was the latest in a wave of violence to hit Pakistan since the army started taking on Islamist militants allied with al-Qaida and the Taliban, with terrorist strikes killing 500 people since October.

Karachi has largely been spared the Taliban-linked violence that has struck much of the country. but the city has been the scene of frequent sectarian, ethnic and political violence.

Extremists from the majority Sunni community regard Shi’ites as heretical, and the two groups have long engaged in tit-for-tat killings in Pakistan.

After yesterday’s blast, protesters set fire to a market, two other buildings and several vehicles, smashing shops as others at the procession attempted to stop them. Police and paramilitary troops fired into the air to disperse the crowd.

Television footage showed police cars and ambulances damaged, with windows smashed and doors and hoods ripped open.

At the Civil Hospital, relatives cried and beat their chests as the wounded lay on stretchers and beds.