15 January 2012
Last updated at 07:43 ET
At least 16 people have been killed and some 20 wounded in a bomb attack on a Shia religious procession in the central Pakistani city of Khanpur.
Police initially thought the blast had been caused by an electrical fault, but later confirmed it was a bomb.
The attack targeted Shias marking the festival of Arbain, one of the main holy days of the Shia calendar.
There have been a number of attacks targeting the minority Shia community, carried out by Sunni militants.
The remote-controlled bomb was planted near an electric pole, Sohail Chattha, the area’s police chief, told Reuters news agency.
He said it was set off as the procession approached.
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THE SECTARIAN DIVIDE
- Shias revere Ali, son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad
- Pakistan is 20% Shia, 70% Sunni
- Violence between Sunni and Shia factions grew worse in the early 1980s
- Most violence now takes place in the north-west, Balochistan, Punjab and Karachi
“There was a
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