ISLAMABAD — A suicide bomber targeted a Shiite religious procession in the southern Pakistan city of Jacobabad on Friday, killing at least 16 and wounding 35 others, police said.
The attacker hit the procession of Ashoura mourners as it reached the end of its route near a park, said Yar Mohammad Lashari, a Jacobabad police official.
Many of the wounded, including six or seven children, were in critical condition at the city’s main hospital and the death toll could rise, he said.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility but suspicion fell on Sunni extremists who have been blamed for previous such attacks.
It came as minority Shiite Muslims marked Ashoura, a 10-day ritual when they commemorate the death of Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad. Shiite Muslims hold public rallies despite threats from Sunni extremists who consider them to be heretics.
A day earlier, a suicide bomber targeted a Shiite mosque in southwest Pakistan, killing at least 10 people and wounding several others in Sibi district of Baluchistan province.
The suicide attacker, disguised in a woman’s head-to-toe burqa dress, entered the mosque as people at the mosque held an Ashoura-related gathering.
Six children were among those killed, Baluchistan home minister Sarfaraz Bugti has said.
Pakistani authorities have put heightened security arrangements in place to protect Ashoura events, including sealing off procession routes and suspending cell phone services in certain areas. Paramilitary troops will escort processions and soldiers were on standby for further attacks.
