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Blast in Pakistan mosque kills 30

By K J M Varma in Islamabad
Last updated on: October 02, 2004 01:39 IST
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At least 30 people were killed and 70 injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up in a Shiite mosque packed with worshippers in Pakistan's industrial city of Sialkot on Friday afternoon.

The attack came just hours after President Pervez Musharraf returned home from a high-profile foreign trip.

The explosion that ripped through the building occurred at 1.30 pm local time.

A district police official told state-run PTV that an unidentified person with a briefcase had entered the mosque. Police suspect he was a suicide bomber and was carrying explosives in the briefcase.

The blast, which created a crater, left at least 30 people dead and 70 injured, police said.

Musharraf, who returned home Thursday night after a visit to the US, the Netherlands and Italy, said the attack showed
the terrorists had no religion.

The blast took place five days after Pakistani security forces killed one of the most wanted Al Qaeda operatives, Amjad
Farooqi, in a shootout.

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K J M Varma in Islamabad
Source: PTI© Copyright 2024 PTI. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of PTI content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent.