'I lay among dead bodies'

2004-10-02 09:04

Sialkot - Beating their chests and wailing, hundreds of minority Shiite Muslims gathered on Saturday for a mass funeral of victims of a suicide bombing at a mosque that killed 25 people.

More than 50 others were wounded in Friday's attack in the eastern city of Sialkot, which triggered a riot by Shiite youths, who ransacked shops and gas stations and damaged dozens of vehicles. Army troops were deployed to restore order.

The attack came less than a week after Pakistani security forces killed Amjad Hussain Farooqi, a top Pakistani al-Qaeda operative who was a member of a radical Sunni Muslim militant group - fuelling speculation the bombing was retaliation for his death.

Amid fears of more unrest, Shiite clerics were appealing for calm.

Appeals for calm

"We are asking our people to remain peaceful before and after the funerals," said Mohsin Asghar Shah, a Shiite cleric in the city. He said a mass funeral of victims would be held before noon.

Meanwhile, police investigators searched for clues at the Zainabia mosque, and questioned witnesses about the identity of the bomber, a security official in Sialkot said on condition of anonymity.

Punjab province police chief Saadat Ullah Khan refused to speculate who might have been behind the attack, and no group claimed responsibility.

"We have started investigations, and this is all what I can say," he said.

Police reported witnesses as saying the attacker strode into the mosque carrying the bomb in a briefcase and the moment he opened it, a blast ripped through the mosque, killing 16 people on the spot. Nine others died at hospital.

After the blast, experts defused a second briefcase bomb outside the mosque - likely saving many lives as hundreds of Shiites had gathered there to protest the attack.

President General Pervez Musharraf, a key United States ally in fighting al-Qaeda, condemned the blast which he said showed "terrorists have no religion and are enemies of mankind." He renewed his government's commitment to root them out.

Caused mayhem

Friday's blast in Sialkot, 230km south-east of the Pakistani capital Islamabad, caused mayhem in this industrial city, where Shiites and Sunnis generally live in harmony.

"I was praying when I first saw a bright light and then something exploded with a big bang, and I fell down," said Sajjad Anwar, 36, who was being treated at a hospital.

"I saw human body pieces hitting the walls and ceiling of the mosque," he said.

Another injured man, Mumtaz Ali Shah, 43, said: "My mind stopped working for a while after the blast, but when I opened my eyes, I was lying among dead bodies." - AP

- SAPA