Death toll rises to 65 in attack on Pakistanis
Abdul Sattar, The Associated Press, Pakistan | Sat, 09/04/2010 3:37 PM
The death toll from a Pakistani Taliban suicide attack on
a Shiite Muslim procession rose from 43 to 65 overnight as critically wounded
people died in hospitals, police said Saturday.
About 150 people were wounded and some remained in
critical condition after the bombing Friday in the southwestern city of Quetta,
police official Mohammed Sultan said.
The attack was the second in a week against Shiites for
which the Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility. A triple suicide bombing
Wednesday night killed 35 people at a Shiite ceremony in the eastern city of
Lahore.
"Our war is against American and Pakistani security
forces, but Shiites are also our target because they, too, are our
enemies," Pakistani Taliban commander Qari Hussain Mehsud told The
Associated Press.
Shiite leaders blamed the government for failing to
protect them and called a general strike in Quetta, where all schools were
closed for a day of mourning. Shiites make up an estimated 20 percent of the
population in the mostly Sunni Muslim country, although figures are imprecise
and disputed.
Long-standing sectarian violence in Pakistan,
particularly against Shiites, has been exacerbated by the rise of the Sunni
extremist Taliban and al-Qaida movements.
Interior Minister Rehman Malik said the Taliban, al-Qaida
and the outlawed Lashkar-e-Jhangvi militant group were working together to
destabilize Pakistan.
"They are infidels," he told reporters in
Islamabad.
Pakistan's weak civilian government is struggling to deal
with massive flooding and the incessant militant violence aimed at overthrowing
the Western-backed administration.
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said the timing
of the recent attacks - during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and as Pakistan
recovers from the flooding - made them "even more reprehensible."
The flooding began with unusually heavy rains in the
country's northern mountains and killed more than 1,600 people. Millions have
been driven from their homes and the waters are still swamping rich
agricultural land in the southern provinces of Sindh and Punjab.
---
Associated Press Writer Munir Ahmed in Islamabad
contributed to this report.
