Islamabad, Dec 28 (DPA) A suicide bombing tore through a procession of Shia Muslims in Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi Monday, killing at least 20 people, media reports said.
The attack sparked riots, with mobs setting shops and more than a dozen vehicles on fire.
Provincial Health Minister Sagheer Ahmed told the private Geo News television channel that hospitals had received 20 bodies and around 40 injured people.
Karachi’s top civil administrator Javed Hamid said the blast was caused by a suicide bomber.
Live television images showed a cloud of smoke rising close to the front rows of the procession after a deafening blast.
The attack took place despite deployment of more than 10,000 police and paramilitary troops in Karachi to provide security for the religious processions.
Shia Muslims commemorate their annual festival of Ashura to mourn the killing of Imam Hussein in the year 680.
The bombing came one day after a suicide attacker blew himself up among hundreds of Shia mourners in the Pakistan-administered Kashmir region, killing at least eight people.