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48 worshippers die and 80 hurt in suicide bomb blast at mosque
Ed Harris27.03.09
A SUICIDE bomber blew himself up in a mosque packed with hundreds of worshippers at Friday prayers in Pakistan, killing at least 48 people and injuring scores more.
The blast badly damaged the mosque in Jamrud, a town near the Afghan border in the north-west, an area which has been rocked by Taliban attacks as well as vicious feuds between rival tribes and militant groups. It was not clear who was behind the attack.
Television footage showed residents and police digging frantically through the ruins of the white-walled mosque, after the roof appeared to have caved in.
The bomber struck when about 250 people were attending prayers, said Tariq Hayat, the senior administrator in the area.
He said rescuers had pulled 48 bodies from the rubble and predicted the toll was likely to rise. Another 80 people were injured, he said.
"We are struggling to find the survivors," Mr Hayat added.
Growing violence in Pakistan's northwest is fuelling doubts about the country's ability to counter Taliban and al Qaeda militants, also blamed for attacks in neighbouring Afghanistan.
Jamrud lies in the semi-autonomous Khyber tribal region, where militants have intensified attacks on trucks carrying supplies to Nato and US forces in Afghanistan.
The motive was not immediately clear today, but feuding militant groups in the area have carried out a string of tit-for-tat attacks, including attacks on mosques.
Reader views (4)
This is what happens with a cancer - it eats away at its host. The extremists aren't worried about the Pakistani government previously backing off against their strongholds - they want the nation to be brought to its knees so that they can pick up what's left of it and remold it in their own image.
And in case the British don't think it concerns them, think again. These guys and others like them are setting out to change the face of the world, and that includes you and me! The verbal message coming from these people and their supporters may sound like nothing more than mindless rhetoric to sane, Joe Blow in the street, but remember, fanatics THINK in slogans. They don't use logic. They don't believe in fairness. They don't believe in choice.
- Rogan, Irving
What maks me angry, is Muslims constantly blame the West for killing their people. Seems to me they are doing a pretty good job of doing that themselves.
- Sylvia, Epping Essex
I don't undestand why muslims from another country murder muslims in their own country. Why is it acceptable for the Taleban to murder any group that disagree ?
- Joe, Swanley Kent
This story is some way down the ES website, and I've not even heard it on the radio I've been listening to all day.
Surely it's more of a news story than the forthcoming gathering of the self-important to argue over lunch arrangements?
- Escobar A-Lop-Lop, Camden County