PAKISTAN: SECURITY ON HIGH ALERT AS TOWN OF SIALKOT MOURNS SUICIDE BOMB ATTACK ON ZAINABYA MOSQUE
Record ID:
850783
PAKISTAN: SECURITY ON HIGH ALERT AS TOWN OF SIALKOT MOURNS SUICIDE BOMB ATTACK ON ZAINABYA MOSQUE
- Title: PAKISTAN: SECURITY ON HIGH ALERT AS TOWN OF SIALKOT MOURNS SUICIDE BOMB ATTACK ON ZAINABYA MOSQUE
- Date: 1st October 2004
- Summary: (W4) SIALKOT, PAKISTAN (OCTOBER 1, 2004) (REUTERS) 1. PEOPLE STANDING OUTSIDE ZAINABYA MOSQUE 0.04 2. CU: SIGNBOARD OF ZAINABYA MOSQUE 0.07 3. MILITARY TRUCKS PACKED WITH SOLDIERS MOVING INTO THE CITY 0.14 4. CLOSE OF SOLDIERS STANDING IN TRUCK 0.19 5. SOLDIERS DISPERSING CROWD 0.23 6. SOLDIERS BEGINNING PATROLLING 0.30 7. VARIOUS OF ARMED SOLDIERS ON GUARD IN THE STREETS (3 SHOTS) 0.42 8. POLICEMEN ON DUTY 0.46 9. CLOSE OF POLICEMEN IN RIOT GEAR 0.50 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 16th October 2004 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: SIALKOT, PAKISTAN
- City:
- Country: Pakistan
- Topics:
- Reuters ID: LVA5B1TJLZ2QA03MKGGKN00SZ9T9
- Aspect Ratio:
- Story Text: Security on high alert as Pakistani city mourns suicide bomb attack on
mosque.
Pakistan beefed up security on Saturday (October 2) as minority
Shi'ite Muslims buried victims of a suicide bomb attack on a
mosque in the eastern town of Sialkot that killed
at least 30 people a day earlier.
The suicide bomber had detonated the device as hundreds of worshippers
were crowded in the Zainabya mosque for Friday prayers.
On Saturday, mourners gathered in front of the mosque to chant
incantations praising Allah and the eighth century founders of the Shi'ite
sect before thousands marched in the funeral
procession for nine of the victims.
Shi'ite black banners on staffs mounted with a brass open palmed hand
were carried by some sobbing mourners while others beat their chests in a
traditional Shi'ite display of grief.
Most of the victims' bodies were taken to their native towns and
villages for burial. They included the body of a former deputy speaker of the
Azad Kashmir Legislative Assembly, which was taken to Muzaffarabad, where
Shi'ites were held a protest rally.
Local traders announced a two-day closure of shops in Sialkot to
protest against the killings, while police were on alert for any sectarian
backlash in the city, 170 km (100 miles) southeast of the capital
Islamabad.
Hundreds of Shi'ites had gone on the rampage after the blast, setting
fire to a nearby petrol station and two police vehicles and hurling stones at
buildings in the neighbourhood,
compelling local authorities to call in the army.
Security was tightened in all major cities of Pakistan.
No one has claimed responsibility for the bombing but the information
minister has said it might be retaliation for the killing last Sunday of the
most wanted Pakistani militant, Amjad Hussain Farooqi.
Seen as the main link between Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda and local
militant groups, Farooqi was a key suspect in two assassination attempts on
President Pervez Musharraf last
December.
Shi'ites account for 20 percent of Pakistan's 150 million people, and
Sunnis almost all of the rest. Christians and other minorities account for
five percent.
Some Sunni groups have forged closer links with the al Qaeda network
amid anger over Musharraf's support for the U.S.-led war on terror since the
Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
Karachi was put on alert against a possible terrorist attack this week
after the shooting of Farooqi, a known leader of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, a splinter
faction of another outlawed radical Sunni group, Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan.
Both groups consider Shi'ites to be heretics and police blame
Lashkar-e-Jhangvi for many killings of Shi'ites in recent years.
Farooqi was also wanted in connection with the kidnapping and murder of
U.S. reporter Daniel Pearl in 2002.
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