Suicide Bomber Targets Ashura Procession in Pakistan
The attack took place as Shias gathered at the mosque to observe the holy month of Muharram in the town of Chalgari in restive Baluchistan, some 170 kilometers southeast of the provincial capital, Quetta.
“At least 10 people were killed and 12 others were wounded after a suicide bomber blew himself up at a Shia mosque,” provincial home minister Sarfraz Bugti told AFP.
Local administration official Mohammad Waseem confirmed the attack and death toll.
Bugti said there were six children between 10 and 12 years old among the dead and that some women had also died.
He added that the death toll may rise.
Waseem said the suspected suicide bomber appeared to be about 18 years old and was wearing a woman’s burqa, a face veil.
Takfiri violence has claimed thousands of lives of Shia minority in the country over the past decade.
Many of the worst atrocities have taken place in the southwestern province of Baluchistan, home to some 200,000 Shias.
Shia gatherings and processions during Muharram mark Imam Hussein’s (AS) martyrdom in the Battle of Karbala in 680 AD.
