Karachi attack shines light on history of sectarian strife

Karachi: A suicide bomber blew up a Shiite procession in Pakistan's commercial capital Karachi yesterday, killing at least 25 people, the latest in a series of attacks across the country which have killed hundreds.

The assault on the religious march, the third in Pakistan's biggest city in as many days, underscored the multiple security challenges facing the country.

The nuclear-armed US ally is struggling against Al Qaida-linked militants and is under mounting pressure from Washington to help stabilise neighbouring Afghanistan, where a Taliban insurgency is raging.

The bomb exploded on a main road during a procession for Ashura, the Shiite calendar's biggest event, despite the presence of thousands of security forces who had been on high alert.

Television pictures showed a big cloud of smoke over the scene and reporters said angry worshippers attacked journalists and police and set fire to shops and vehicles.

Karachi has a long history of ethnic and factional violence, although it has been spared the brunt of Taliban attacks over the past couple of years.

Karachi police chief Waseem Ahmad appealed for calm. He said the severed head of the suicide bomber had been found.

"I was walking in front rows when the blast went off about 50 metres away and a thick cloud of smoke immediately engulfed the entire spot," said witness Mo'en Rizvi.

Ashura falls on the 10th day of a 40-day mourning period during the Islamic calendar's first month, Muharram.

Embattled Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has vowed to end the bloodshed. But militants have struck back with bombings in several cities since the army launched a major offensive in their stronghold of South Waziristan in mid-October.

The United States says Pakistan must crack down harder on militants along the border who cross into Afghanistan and attack US-led troops fighting the Taliban.

But Pakistan, which nurtured militants fighting Soviet occupation troops in Afghanistan in the 1980s, sees the Afghan Taliban as leverage against enemy India's influence in the country.

Pakistan's military is focused on battling its homegrown Taliban who have extended their reach, as shown by a December 4 suicide and gun attack on a mosque near army headquarters.

Violence has intensified since July 2007, when the army cleared out militants from a mosque in Islamabad, and victims have included former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, who was killed in a suicide bomb and gun attack after returning home from self-imposed exile in December 2007.

Investors have factored in violence across the northwest in their trading but analysts have said trouble in Karachi could hurt equities.