PAKISTAN: Shock and grief after Sufi shrine attack leaves 41 dead

Record ID: 487535

  • Title: PAKISTAN: Shock and grief after Sufi shrine attack leaves 41 dead
  • Date: 5th April 2011
  • Summary: DERA GHAZI KHAN, PAKISTAN (APRIL 4, 2011) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (REUTERS) SHRINE/ DEVOTEES QUEUING AT GATE OF SHRINE STALL OUTSIDE SHRINE GIVING AWAY DRINKING WATER POLICEMAN AT CORNER OF ALLEYWAY LEADING TO SHRINE VARIOUS OF DEVOTEES BEING CHECKED BY SECURITY AS THEY ENTER SHRINE (SOUNDBITE) (Urdu) MOHAMMAD ASLAM, RESIDENT OF DERA GHAZI KHAN SAYING: "When I came down her
  • Embargoed: 20th April 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Pakistan, Pakistan
  • Country: Pakistan
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement
  • Reuters ID: LVA4H8V40M9S6ZZS9GYJ0BTE52MO
  • Story Text: Residents of Dera Ghazi Khan were in a state of shock and grief on Monday (April 4) after two Taliban suicide bombers struck a Sufi shrine in eastern Pakistan a day earlier, killing at least 41 people.
    Police said some 65 people were wounded. They said the attackers struck during an annual ceremony for the Sufi saint the shrine is dedicated to.
    Security was tightened around the religious building on Monday and worshippers were searched as they entered.
    One local resident described the carnage he had seen the day before.
    "When I came down here, I saw everyone running in chaos. Some had lost their noses, others their ears. Some were without legs, others without hands. I don't know who did this act of carnage," said Mohammad Aslam.
    Another resident said he had lost two relatives in the attack.
    "There has been chaos since it happened yesterday. Two of my relatives died. One was a small girl and the other was my paternal uncle who owned this shop here. It was like doomsday," said Arshad.
    A police officer in Dera Ghazi Khan city said the attacks were suicide bombings. He said police had arrested an attacker who had been unable to completely detonate his explosives and that he was amongst the wounded.
    Many of the wounded were still being treated in hospital for blast injuries. Some of the more critically injured were taken to Nishtar hospital in Multan city.
    Taliban militants, who follow an austere interpretation of Sunni Islam, condemn other interpretations of Islam as heretical and have launched repeated attacks on the country's Shi'ite, Sufi and Christian minorities.
    They claimed responsibility for Sunday's (April 3) suicide bombings.
    Many analysts say the attacks are motivated by more than religious hatred, and that militant groups hope by inflaming sectarian tensions they can further destabilise Pakistan and weaken the government's tenuous grip on the country.
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