Two suicide bomb attacks on Sunday hit a Sufi mosque in the Pakistani city of Dera Ghazi Khan, in the east, killing at least 41 deaths and numerous injuries. This is one of the bloodiest attacks this year against a religious minority in Pakistan. "These were suicide attacks and have arrested an attacker who completely failed to detonate the explosives on his body.
The wounded," he told Reuters by telephone Zawar Ali, a police officer. Police said about 65 people were injured. He also said the attackers took advantage of an annual ceremony of the Sufi saint who is dedicated to the mosque. "It was a few yards from where the explosion occurred," said the witness Faisal Iqbal.
"People started running out of the temple. Women and children were crying and shouting. It was like hell," he added. Taliban militants linked to Al Qaeda hate the Sufis because what they see as an unorthodox interpretation of Islam and attacked several times a Shiite communities, Sufi and Christian.
They claimed responsibility for Sunday's suicide attacks. "Our men carried out these attacks and carried out more in response to government operations against our people in the northwest," he told Reuters Ehsanullah Ehsan Taliban spokesman by telephone from an undisclosed location. Last October, the explosion of a bomb at a Sufi mosque in another eastern city, Pak Pattan, left six dead.
In July, 42 people died in a bomb attack on the most important Sufi mosque in Pakistan, in Lahore, capital of eastern Punjab province. Many analysts say the attacks are motivated by religious hatred and more than that by increasing sectarian tensions, militant groups hope to destabilize Pakistan and weaken the tenuous government control over the country. 
The wounded," he told Reuters by telephone Zawar Ali, a police officer. Police said about 65 people were injured. He also said the attackers took advantage of an annual ceremony of the Sufi saint who is dedicated to the mosque. "It was a few yards from where the explosion occurred," said the witness Faisal Iqbal.
"People started running out of the temple. Women and children were crying and shouting. It was like hell," he added. Taliban militants linked to Al Qaeda hate the Sufis because what they see as an unorthodox interpretation of Islam and attacked several times a Shiite communities, Sufi and Christian.
They claimed responsibility for Sunday's suicide attacks. "Our men carried out these attacks and carried out more in response to government operations against our people in the northwest," he told Reuters Ehsanullah Ehsan Taliban spokesman by telephone from an undisclosed location. Last October, the explosion of a bomb at a Sufi mosque in another eastern city, Pak Pattan, left six dead.
In July, 42 people died in a bomb attack on the most important Sufi mosque in Pakistan, in Lahore, capital of eastern Punjab province. Many analysts say the attacks are motivated by religious hatred and more than that by increasing sectarian tensions, militant groups hope to destabilize Pakistan and weaken the tenuous government control over the country.
- "Taliban suicide blasts at Sufi shrine in Pakistan kill 41" and related posts (04/04/2011)
- "More Muslim on Muslim Violence: 41 Sufis Slaughtered in Pakistan" and related posts (03/04/2011)
- Suicide blasts at Sufi shrine in Pakistan kill 41 (03/04/2011)
- Suicide Bombings 'Kill 30' At Pakistan Shrine (03/04/2011)
- Death toll from Pakistan shrine blasts rises to 50 - Xinhua (04/04/2011)
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