Suicide bomber kills at least 10 at Shiite mosque in SW Pakistan: officials

Quetta, Pakistan: A suicide bomber blew himself up in a mosque killing at least 10 Shiites and wounding 12 others in a remote southwestern Pakistani town on Thursday, officials said.

The attack took place as Shiites gathered at the mosque to observe Moharram in the town of Chalgari in restive Baluchistan, some 170 kilometres (105 miles) southeast of the provincial capital, Quetta.

“At least 10 people were killed and 12 others were wounded after a suicide bomber blew himself up at a Shiite mosque,” provincial home minister Sarfraz Bugti told AFP.

Local administration official Mohammad Waseem confirmed the attack and death toll.

Bugti said there were six children between 10 and 12 years old among the dead and that some women had also died.

He added that the death toll may rise.

Waseem said the suspected suicide bomber appeared to be about 18 years old and was wearing a woman’s burqa, an all enveloping head-to-toe garment.

Sectarian violence has claimed thousands of lives in the country over the past decade.

Many of the worst atrocities have taken place in the southwestern province of Balochistan, home to some 200,000 Shiites.