Suicide attack on Muharram procession kills 15 in Pakistan’s Muzaffarabad city

KARACHI - A suicide explosion in Muzaffarabad city killed at least 15 people and left over 100 injured, while another explosion near a Muharram procession in Karachi injured 35 people, police said.

In Muzaffarabad, a suicide bomber blew himself up when he was intercepted by security personnel guarding a Muharram procession. The procession was passing close to a police barricade in front of the Imambargah on CMH Road at about 6.30 p.m. when the bomber struck.

“The bomber came in front of me. He was accompanying the procession. Police searched everybody on the gate and the bomber blew himself up during the body search. All of a sudden the electricity cut. There was panic and people were crying for help,” the Daily Times quoted Atif Bashir, a medical storekeeper, as saying.

Police officer Tahir Qayum said the killed included two policemen; and 15 of those injured in the blast are in critical condition.

Security was put on high alert across Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir following the attack, and the army was called in to assist the civil administration in maintaining law and order.

Meanwhile in Karachi, police maintained that the explosion was triggered off by a build up of gas in a manhole, but doctors who treated the blast victims found pellets in the bodies of the injured, suggesting that an explosive device was detonated. (ANI)