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Riots follow Pakistan mosque blast
QUETTA, Pakistan -- A deadly bomb attack on a mosque in the Pakistani city of Quetta has sparked a violent backlash among Shiite Muslims there. Following Friday's attack on the Shiite mosque in which at least 44 died, scores of rioters went on the rampage through the city, burning vehicles and setting up roadblocks. Troops were called out in the city Friday night and a curfew was imposed as authorities sought to control the escalating violence. In one incident officials said a group of Shiite youths, angry over a shortage of doctors, had begun to attack a hospital where many of the victims from the mosque blast had been taken. The government says three attackers, including two suicide bombers, carried out the attack. Saturday morning saw the funeral for 41 victims of the attack, attended by hundreds of Shiite mourners at an emotional gathering. Soldiers in armored personnel carriers patrolled the streets around the graveyard close to the bombed mosque, fearing further retaliatory attacks. Quetta has been the scene of frequent sectarian violence between Shiite and Sunni Muslims. Extra security has been put in place around Sunni mosques and religious schools in the city in an effort to ward off any retaliatory attacks.
Friday's blast took place at about 1:30 p.m. local time as the mosque was packed with an estimated 2,000 worshipers holding prayers. Police said two of the three attackers were killed. The third was wounded and taken into custody by authorities. Two unexploded bombs were later found near the main wall of the mosque leading officials to speculate that the impact of the attack could have been much worse had those devices also gone off. Both bombs were defused by bomb disposal experts. No one has yet claimed responsibility for the attack although recent attacks on Shiite targets have been blamed on radical groups from the country's Sunni majority. Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf has condemned the attack, blaming what he called a small minority seeking to "undermine whatever Pakistan stands for, whatever the vast majority stands for." "I am clear in my mind the vast majority of the people of Pakistan certainly do not contribute to extremism, terrorism and fundamentalism," he said.
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