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April 11, 2006
Pakistan: Explosion At Muslim Prophet's Birthday Bash
According to AKI, an explosion has taken place in Nashtar Park in Karachi, southern Pakistan. The explosion was targeting a gathering of Muslim religious scholars, who were celebrating the birthday of their prophet Mohammed (Eid Miladun Nabi).
The explosion went off underneath a stage at which speakers were leading prayers, and, according to Pakistan's Geo TV scores were injured.
This news is only twenty minutes old, at time of writing, so we will update as more information arrives.
UPDATE: According to the BBC the explosion is a lot more serious than stated above, and sadly at least 40 people have been killed. Pakistan's Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao said to Associated Press: "It is a very unfortunate incident. I can confirm that 40 people have died in the bomb blast."
So far no group has claimed responsibility for the blast. Apparently thousands were in the park at the time of the explosion.
According to ABC News: Scores of men wearing long white robes clambered onto the stage to assist victims, and an angry mob burned cars and pelted police with stones after the blast, said witness Mohammed Asif. Police forces fired into the air to disperse the crowds......"I saw body parts everywhere. I saw people collecting body parts and putting them in ambulances," Asif said. "
Why is that that in the wake of a tragedy or something that offends their sensibilities, Muslims have to go on a rampage and riot? Is this the normal reaction of normal "religious" people? Sorry, I forgot. It is Islam we are discussing here.
UPDATE: 12 April. The death toll has now reached 57, according to AKI. The group on the podium comprised representatives of the Muslim Sunni group, the Sunni Tehrik movement. Police claim the blast was caused by a suicide bomber, but the group deny this. Their entire leadership was wiped out in the blast. Today, they announced a 48 hour deadline for the perpetrators of the attack to be apprehended.
Everybody knows who the assassins are," Ghauri said. "They are the same who killed our founder, Saleem Qadri," he said referring to Qadri's murder in a 2001 ambush, allegedly planned by a rival group, the Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM).MQM is a pro-American group. The Sunni Tehrik group was formerly moderate, but has become increasingly hardline."They are the same who have been killing our members and have been threatening to kill Abbas Qadri," said Ghauri, speaking at the news conference.
"We demand the resignation of the provincial government and an independent inquiry to be carried out only by the military intelligence or the inter-services intelligence. No other inquiry into the case will be accepted," Ghauri said.
14 APRIL update: The funeral of the top leaders of the Sunni Tehrik took place on Thursday evening (April 13), attended by thousands. Earlier that day, Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao confirmed that the bomb had been caused by a suicide attacker.
The Pakistan Daily Times reports that police found the body of an uncircumcised man amongst the wreckage of the blast and initially assumed that he was the suicide bomber. The man, Asad Ali, is from a Muslim family and has been cleared. So far, they still have two bodies and one head which remain unidentified.
Initially, Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA, the coalition opposition of 6 Islamist parties) and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) legislators accused each other of involvement in the incident. Jamaat-e-Islami members alleged that the MQM was involved in the incident while the MQM charged religious parties with promoting and patronising terrorists.
According to AKI, the Jamaat Ahl-i-Sunnat Sunni Muslim group and the six-party MMA have joined forces to demand a strike for today (Friday 14). The funeral (left) had taken place with a procession preceeding it, along the main Jinnah Road, the arterial route into Karachi. Police and paramilitary forces lined the road, on the look-out for trouble.
The funeral prayers for the slain Sunni Tehrik leaders - including Abbas Qadri, Akram Qadri, Iftiqar Bhatti - were led by a prominent religious scholar Mufti Muneebur Rehman. Adressing the crowd before the prayer Rehman said that there was little hope of justice from the government, and that people would have to "file their case in the court of God" to provide them justice.
Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at April 11, 2006 11:00 AM
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