Pakistan

Further blasts kill one and leave dozens injured

Article published on the 2008-07-06 Latest update 2008-07-08 08:51 TU

Protesters outside the Red Mosque
(Photo: Reuters)

Following Sunday's suicide bombing in the Pakistani capital, six small explosions struck the commercail hub of Karachi on Monday, killing one and leaving over thirty people injured, according to police. Investigators are still searching for clues after Sunday's attack in the capital that killed 19 people.

Police said that the explosions appeared to have been caused by firecrackers. Bomb disposal teams were sent to inspect the sites of the explosions.

This follows Sunday's bomb after an Islamist rally that left 19 dead, with dozens more injured. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani condemned Sunday's blast and ordered an inquiry, state media said.

"Such incidents are against the teachings of Islam and do not serve any purpose," it quoted him as saying.

Before Sunday's attack, thousands of Islamists had shouted "Revenge! Revenge!" demanding the hanging of President Pervez Musharraf and then Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao. They were behind the storming of Islamabad's Red Mosque because it had become a base for radical preachers and alleged al-Qaeda members to launch punitive raids against practices they deemed unislamic.

Speakers at the rally claimed that the operation, in which more than 100 people were killed, had been ordered by the US.

It was followed by a wave of suicide-bombings around the country which left about 1,000 people dead and was cited by Musharraf when he declared a state of emergency in November.

Speakers also threatened retaliation if the mosque's jailed leader, Abdul Aziz, who was caught fleeing in a woman's burqa on the second day of the siege, is not released.