Pakistan Blasts Kill Shiite Worshipers, The New York Times, 5 February
2010
EXCERPT: "A huge bomb blast tore apart a bus carrying Shiites to a religious procession in the southern city of Karachi on Friday afternoon, and barely two hours later another lethal explosion struck a hospital where many of the wounded had been taken, police and hospital officials said. At least 25 people were killed and 100 more were wounded in the two attacks, which seemed to confirm fears that sectarian strife would accompany the annual Shiite religious observation. Friday marked Arbaeen, the 40th day of mourning of the death of Imam Hussein, the martyred grandson of the Prophet Muhammad and a figure revered by Shiites. Processions commemorating Imam Hussein’s death were taking place in several cities on Friday, and there were concerns before the blast that militants would use the occasion to stoke sectarian tensions. Waseem Ahmed, the Karachi police chief, said that an initial investigation showed the blasts were caused by remote controlled devices."
Read the full story.
Related articles:
Security prevents ambulances from reaching civil hospital, DAWN, 5 February 2010
Karachi blues turn into reds, Huffington Post, 4 February 2010
Pakistan Taliban claims bombing that killed 44, CBC News, 30 December 2009
Religious sword over Pakistan [op-ed], Council on Foreign Relations, 21 May 2004
Related reports and academic articles:
Reviving Pakistan's pluralist traditions to fight extremism, The Heritage Foundation, 4 May 2009
Sectarianism in Pakistan: The radicalization of Shi'i and Sunni identities [pdf], Modern Asian Studies 38, no. 3, 1998
Related posts:
Lawmakers agree to end Karachi clashes, 4 February 2010
Troops deployed in tense Karachi, 3 February 2010
Targeted killings, ethnic violence plague Karachi, 25 January 2010
Karachi seen as key to Pakistan's future, 22 January 2010
Anti-terrorism act invoked after 256 target killings, 5 January 2010
