Gunmen kill eight in Karachi mosque

Gunmen opened fire inside a Shiite mosque in Karachi today, killing eight worshippers and injuring at least 10 others, police and hospital officials said.

At least three gunmen entered the Imam Bargha Mehdi mosque as worshippers were performing evening prayers and sprayed automatic weapons fire, said Iftikhar Ahmed, a spokesman for Pakistan’s Interior Ministry. The gunmen had been waiting at a nearby tea shop, witnesses said.

One witness said he saw four gunmen, and said they rode up to the mosque on two motorcycles.

“The call for prayer had just begun and four people on two motorcycles rode up to the gate and opened fire,” said Mohammed Ali, one of the worshippers.

The motive for the attack was not immediately clear. Pakistan has been wracked by religious violence in recent years, mostly by Sunni Muslim extremist groups that have been targeting minority Shiites.

At least eight bodies were taken to nearby Jinnah Hospital, according to Dr Kalim Ahmed. Ten other people were injured. Police said about 25 people were believed to be inside the mosque at the time of the shooting.

Dozens of relatives and friends of the victims gathered outside the hospital, many crying and beating their chests in anguish. Men who had carried some of the victims stood around, their clothing covered in blood.

Karachi has been the site of a series of violent attacks, many against Westerners and minority Christians, in recent months.

A June 14 car bombing outside the US Consulate in Karachi killed 12 people and injured 50. A May 8 suicide bombing outside the Sheraton Hotel in Karachi killed 11 French engineers and three other people, including the bomber.

In Pakistan a small but violent group of extremist Sunni Muslims revile Shiites as non-Muslims. Most of Pakistan’s 140 million people are Sunni Muslims and have no quarrel with their Shiite brethren.

Most of the religious violence in recent years has been blamed on a Sunni Muslim extremist group, Sipah-e-Sahabah Pakistan (SSP), which is outlawed by the government. A breakaway faction of the SSP, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, also is blamed for attacks on Shiite Muslims and several of its members have been arrested.

The rivalry between the two Islamic sects dates back to the seventh century when they had a falling out over who should be the heir to Islam’s prophet Mohammed.