Posted on 05/07/2004 9:00:38 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) - A bomb exploded at a Shiite Muslim mosque packed with worshippers in this southern port city Friday, killing 13 people and wounding more than 200 others in a suspected suicide attack, police and witnesses said. President Gen. Pervez Musharraf condemned the blast as a "heinous act of terrorism" and ordered an investigation. The attack occurred shortly after 1 p.m. at a mosque inside a government-run religious school, shattering windows and peppering the walls with shrapnel. The wounded lay screaming for help on bloodstained carpets in the mosque while dazed worshippers stumbled out. The Sindh Madrassah tul Islam school, which houses students ages 4-18, has separate mosques for Sunni and Shiite Muslim faithful. Witnesses said the school had let out early, as usual on Friday. Most of the victims were adults who came to the mosque for prayers. There was no word on the motive. Karachi, Pakistan's largest city and home to several radical Islamic groups, has been hit by frequent acts of terrorism and sectarian violence. Dr. Razar Ali said 12 dead were brought to Karachi's Civil Hospital, and 215 wounded, of whom 45 were still hospitalized. Most of the others were either released after treatment or had been transferred elsewhere. Another death and five more injuries were reported at Jinnah Hospital, an official there said on condition of anonymity. Sadir Durrani, a police explosives expert, said he had found no timing or radio devices, indicating it may have been caused by a suicide bomber. Chief investigator Manzoor Mughal said no crater was found at the blast point, suggesting a person was carrying the bomb. Several injured people had described a man in a black robe and black turban who was sitting near the column where the bomb exploded. "We are still investigating, but it seems it was a suicide bombing," Mughal said. Kalb e-Abbas, 23, told The Associated Press that he was in the mosque for Friday prayers when he heard "a big bang." "Something hit my arm, and I saw blood all over my body," he said, adding that he could hear the cries of the wounded around him before stumbling out of the building. Aftab Sheikh, a senior politician responsible for law and order in Sindh province, where Karachi is located, blamed anti-state elements for what he called "a barbaric act." "Today's bomb attack was carried out by those people who were behind other terrorist attacks in Karachi," Sheikh said. He would not elaborate. Muslim clerics appealed for blood from mosque loudspeakers throughout the city. The provincial government announced it would give $1,750 compensation to families of the dead, and $525 to each of the injured. Police have been on alert in Karachi since April, when they found weapons and explosives in a raid on a building. It was not clear, however, if the mosque attack was linked to that weapons find. About 80 percent of Pakistan's 150 million people are Sunni, and the rest Shiite. Most live together in peace, but radical groups on both sides are responsible for frequent deadly attacks. In March, Sunni radicals attacked a procession in the southwestern city of Quetta, killing more than 40 people and wounding 150. Another bomb attack in Quetta injured two people Friday, a day before Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali was scheduled to inaugurate an international investment conference at a nearby hotel. Anger soared after the Karachi attack, with a mob of residents hurling abuse at police and rescue officials, apparently enraged by their inability to stop the violence. Youths burned two vehicles on a main road near a major Shiite mosque elsewhere in the city. --
Approximating the value of a Pakistani's life.
Especially with luke warm Muslims who don't want to get the infidels blood on their hands. These lukewarm Muslims are probably more of an affront to Allah than the infidel.
Even the Christian God doesn't like slackers.
Apoc. ch 3 15] I know thy works, that thou art neither cold, nor hot. I would thou wert cold, or hot. [16] But because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold, not hot, I will begin to vomit thee out of my mouth.
I'm sure Allah feels the same way. - Tom
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