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20 killed in Bari Imam bombing
| More details from yesterday's report: |
 ISLAMABAD: Twenty people were killed and 82 were injured, some critically, when a suicide bomber blew himself up amid the annual Shia Muslims congregation at the Bari Imam Shrine on Friday.
| Prob'ly Lutherans again... |
| Mormons, definitely Mormons ... |
The intense blast made a crater of almost ten metres in radius littered with human limbs, mutilated bodies, pools of blood, the dead and injured, portraying a horrifying scene. Twelve bodies have been identified. "The blast tore the body of the suicide bomber and his head fell 20 yards away from the scene," said an eye-witnesses. The district administration announced Rs 2 million as a reward for information leading to the arrest of the criminals behind this incident.
| There will of course be the usual charges that RAW is behind the whole thing... |
Interior Secretary Syed Kamal Shah, who visited the shrine along with State Interior Minister Shahzad Waseem, told reporters that three investigation teams consisting of the capital police, the Federal Investigation Agency's Special Investigation Group and Crime Investigating Department (CID) had been formed to trace the culprits.
| These organizations make the Keystone Kops look professional ... |
| "Aye! We'll track 'em down! An' then it'll be the Lahore High Court fer them! That'll show 'em!" |
Witnesses said the incident took place when Shia Muslims annual congregation was progressing towards the shrine's vicinity. Shias claim Bari Imam as their religious leader and hold a special Majlis-e-Aza (religious gathering) the day after the conclusion of the four-day annual Urs of Bari Imam. Witnesses said the suicide bomber entered the congregation area when Tahreek-e-Nifaz-e-Fiqa-e-Jafria (TNFJ) Islamabad president Raja Basharat Hussain Imami entered the venue with his supporters.
| Waited for the big turban to arrive, did they? And then missed him. Sounds like Lashkar e-Jhangvi-Hekmatyar branch... |
Talking to Daily Times, Imami said, "As soon as I entered the congregation area and people stood up to welcome me, a powerful blast took place and I saw the bomber's upper body flying through the air." Imami was about to address the gathering. He said human flesh and blood was seen all over the place with people beating their chests and the injured crying for help. Local Shia leader Syed Mazhar Ali called the incident an act of terrorism by enemies of the country, saying, "No Sunni or Shia Muslim can do such a thing."
| You're just saying that, right? |
However, another witness gave a different account saying that two bearded men had entered the gathering and sat near a podium at the front. "An explosion then occurred, and the body of one of them flew in the air," he said, adding that he did not know what happened to the other man.
"Well, Sam, since he was sitting next to the boomer, I think that these pieces here, here, and, yeah, over there are the 2nd bearded man."
"Brilliant Dr. Quincy, how do you do it?" |
Though their leaders did not call it a sectarian incident, some Shias called it premeditated and asked the government to take action against the perpetrators. "Nothing happened during the four days of annual Urs and a blast occurred during our annual gathering, showing that the bombing targeted Shia Muslims," said a young Shia Muslim, Asad Abbas.
| Is there such a thing as an unpremeditated suicide bombing? |
Posted by: Steve White 2005-05-28 |
