05 April,2009 06:24 PM IST | | PTI
A suicide bomber today struck a religious gathering of the Shia community killing at least 30 people and injuring nearly 200 others in the town of Chakwal in Punjab province, hours after security forces were targetted near UN office in the heart of the federal capital.
The suicide attacker detonated his explosives near the gate of an Imambargah or prayer hall in Chakwal, some 90 kilometers south of Islamabad, when he was barred from entering the complex by persons guarding the entrance.
| The site of the suicide blast outside a Shiite Muslim mosque in Chakwal. AFP PIC |
Thirty people were killed by the blast, state-run APP news agency reported. There was no official word on the incident though witnesses and reporters said nearly 200 people were injured in the blast.
u00a0Witnesses said the suicide bomber was aged about 16 or 17 years and was dressed in black. TV channels beamed footage of blood and body parts spattered on the wall near the gate of the Imambargah.
No group claimed responsibility for the attack. Earlier reports had said the bomber had managed to enter the Imambargah.
Witnesses said the death toll would have been much higher if the attacker had not been stopped at the gate.
A massive rescue operation was launched with dozens of ambulances being used to ferry the injured to hospitals in nearby cities like Lahore, Rawalpindi and Islamabad.
Officials in a hospital in Chakwal said about 20 of the injured were in a serious condition.
Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik said President Asif Ali Zardari had ordered the deployment of two helicopters to shift the injured to hospitals in Islamabad.
The terrorist assault came a day after a suicide bomber struck a paramilitary camp in the heart of Islamabad, killing eight security personnel and injuring five others.
Militants have targeted Imambargahs and the minority Shia community in Sindh province in past and the NWFP in the past few months but today's attack was significant as it occurred in the politically crucial Punjab province.
Thirty people were killed in a suicide attack on an Imambargah in Peshawar, the capital of the NWFP, in December last year.
A total of 35 people were killed in a suicide bombing on a Shia religious gathering in Dera Ghazi Khan in Punjab in February.
President Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani condemned the attack in Chakwal. Zardari said such acts were being masterminded by people "who were against the state and wanted to bring a bad name" to Islam.
He directed authorities to find the perpetrators to award them exemplary punishment.
