Bombing Kills 14 at Mosque in Pakistan

A powerful bomb ripped through a crowded Shiite Muslim mosque during Friday prayers, killing at least 14 people and injuring more than 100.

The blast was believed to be the work of a suicide bomber who hid himself in the midst of the worshipers, and a senior police official in Karachi labeled it a terrorist attack.

He said no group had claimed responsibility for the bombing, the worst act of violence in Karachi since mid-2002 when separate bombing attacks at the U.S. Consulate and a luxury hotel claimed the lives of 24 people.

“It has been confirmed as the act of a terrorist group,” said the police official, who spoke on condition that he would not be named. He refused to divulge further details.

Friday’s explosion occurred shortly after the start of midday prayers. The mosque is in a crowded commercial neighborhood of central Karachi that is also home to the Chamber of Commerce and a Pizza Hut.

Witnesses said they had just begun praying when a huge explosion blew out the wooden doors and windows, toppling a heavy metal pillar in the center of the room. Human remains were splattered across the ceiling and walls of the mosque.

The Pakistani government moved quickly to prevent retaliatory attacks, given the history of violence between extreme elements of the Sunni and Shiite sects in this predominantly Muslim country. Sunnis make up an estimated 80% of the 150 million people in Pakistan; the remainder is predominantly Shiite.

Earlier Friday in the southwestern city of Quetta, several people were injured when a bomb went off near a hotel that is the site of an investment conference scheduled this weekend. In March, Sunni militants killed more than 40 people and wounded 150 during a religious gathering in Quetta.

President Pervez Musharraf and the Sindh provincial government condemned Friday’s bombing and appealed to citizens of Karachi to remain calm.

The government offered a reward equivalent to about $43,850 for information leading to the assailants and also announced that it would pay $1,750 to families of the dead and $525 to those injured in the blast.

Tensions rose across this crowded port city as news of the explosion spread.

Violence broke out in several areas where families were in mourning. Angry mobs attacked police with stones, and set fire to cars and buses.

Police cordoned off at least seven neighborhoods Friday night and ordered businesses near the mosque to stay closed through today.

Shopkeepers said they were fearful that the violence would escalate, turning their neighborhood into a battleground.

“These things have never happened in this area before,” said Imran Khurram, 28, whose family runs a small shop near the mosque that sells murgh chole, a popular chicken and bean dish.

For Musharraf, the bombing was the latest in a string of bad news.

This week, the government placed the nation’s airports on high alert before announcing that it had foiled a plan to hijack an airplane bound for the United Arab Emirates. On Monday, a car bombing claimed the lives of three Chinese engineers working on a port project in the southern town of Gawadar.

A senior government official said Friday’s blast was an attempt to create instability before elections scheduled for Wednesday to fill a number of seats in the National Assembly.

Amber Haroon, a top executive with the Karachi-based Dawn Group, owner of Pakistan’s leading English-language daily, called the attack a “tragic” event that would undermine the Musharraf government, scare away investment and reinforce international perceptions about the country’s instability.

“Unfortunately, Pakistan is once again in the limelight for the wrong reasons,” she said.

The mosque where the bombing took place is at the site of a school where Pakistan’s founder, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, was trained. The walled complex of yellow brick buildings is now home to a science and technology college. On Friday, students finished their studies at noon and left the campus.

By 1 p.m., the mosque was packed with about 140 men, and dozens more were in an adjoining courtyard. Shortly after the prayers began, Shahid Hussain recalled, he felt a blast that knocked him unconscious. When he awoke, the 20-year-old software engineer was in a bed at Liaquat National Hospital, where he was treated Friday night for burns and dehydration.

Standing at his brother’s bedside, Zahid Hussain bristled when asked whether he thought the attack was an act of terrorism or sectarian violence.

“What difference does it make whether it’s terrorism or sectarianism?” asked the Karachi marketing executive.

Outside the hospital, members of the Shiite community gathered to donate blood or offer assistance to victims without families. Across the city, police patrolled neighborhoods where families were mourning the dead and preparing the victims’ bodies for burial.

Shehzad Qasim, a 38-year-old engineer, said the government must do more to stop the cycle of killing. “Innocent people have died,” he said. “It is the responsibility of the government to do something.”

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Special correspondent Kashif Abbasi contributed to this report.