27 Die in Bombing at Pakistan Shrine

A bomb exploded Saturday as minority Shiite Muslims congregated at a shrine in a remote town in southwestern Pakistan. At least 27 people were killed and 18 wounded, police said.

Thousands of worshipers were at the shrine of a Shiite saint near the town of Naseerabad, about 210 miles south of Quetta in restive Baluchistan province, when the bomb went off outside, said Mubarak Ali, a local police official.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility and no indication the attack was linked to clashes between tribesmen and government forces at another town in Baluchistan that left at least 30 people dead last week.

“It was a powerful bomb. There was blood and body parts everywhere,” said Mehrab Khan, another police official. “Right now people are angry.... Some of them have blocked roads in the town, and we are trying to control the situation.”

A doctor at a local hospital said 27 people had been killed and 18 injured, nine critically. All the victims were men. Ali gave the same toll.

Pakistan has a history of sectarian violence, mostly between rival Sunni Muslim and minority Shiite extremist groups. About 77% of Pakistan’s 160 million people are Sunni and 20% are Shiite.