Ten killed in suicide attack during Shia cleric's funeral
Islamabad (PTI): At least 10 people were killed and over 30 wounded when a suicide bomber blew himself up in a funeral procession of a Shia cleric in the northwestern Pakistani city of Dera Ismail Khan on Islamabad.
After the attack, a frenzied mob went on rampage firing in the air and torching buses and shops and police had to use tear gas to disperse them.
Elsewhere, another suicide bomber late Thursday attacked a mosque, where anti-militant tribesmen were praying, killing 12 including the head of the group.
Bodies were rushed to the hospital where 28 people wounded in the attack were being treated with some of them reported to be in critical condition.
The suicide bomber blew himself up as worshippers were leaving after evening prayers at a mosque, 22 km northwest of Khar, the main town of Bajaur tribal region, where Pakistani forces are currently carrying out operations against the Taliban and al-Qaeda militants.
In Dera Ismail Khan, the bomber joined the funeral procession of Shia elder Syed Iqbal Shah, who was killed by unknown gunmen late Thursday, and blew himself up as the marchers neared the graveyard, District Coordination Officer Mohsin Khan told reporters.
NWFP Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain told newsmen that 10 people were killed in the blast.
Hospital officials said over 30 people were injured in the powerful explosion that was heard up to 3 km away.
Hussain said the provincial government will come down hard on elements involved in the heinous and inhuman act.
Condemning Friday's blast, he said no Muslim could even think of attacking a mosque or a funeral.
In Islamabad, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Friday said an inquiry would be conducted into the attack on the funeral in Dera Ismail Khan and Army Chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani would brief him on the situation in the area.
The Parliamentary committee on forging a new anti-terror strategy, constituted by the Speaker after the in-camera special joint session of the National Assembly and Senate, will meet in a week, Gilani said.
The committee will be briefed by Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, interior ministry chief Rehman Malik, Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar and the ISI chief on the security situation, he said.
President Asif Ali Zardari too condemned the attack on the funeral in Dera Ismail Khan, saying the perpetrators of such heinous crimes will not be spared.