A Taliban suicide bomber has killed 23 people in a Shiite Muslim procession near Pakistan’s capital Islamabad. The AP reports the suicide bomber attempted to enter the procession yet detonated himself early when security forces attempted to stop him.
The detonation rocked the Pakistani city of Rawalpindi. In addition to the 23 deaths, at least 62 are reportedly injured. This includes six policemen and eight children.
As police officers became suspicious and they attempted to search the man, he reportedly ran past them and detonated his explosives. The attacker was also carrying grenades, and some of them exploded with the detonation.
Local television reports showed images of strewn body parts and blood smeared across the street.
A Pakistani Taliban spokesman reportedly stated: “We have a war of belief with Shiites; they are blasphemers. We will continue attacking them.”
This attack comes within days of two bombings of Shiites in other parts of Pakistan. These threats from the Pakistani Taliban come on the same day they vowed to target Indians for the execution of the lone surviving Mumbai terrorist from the deadly 2008 terror attack that left 166 dead.
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