Suicide bombing and riots kill 27 as Pakistan celebrates Muslim festival

At least 27 people were killed and 50 wounded by a suicide bombing and riots that followed in a provincial town in Pakistan during Shia Muslims' holiest festival.

The explosion happened as a procession of about 300 people left a mosque at about 9.45am yesterday and were passing a bazaar in the town of Hangu in North-West Frontier Province.

The pilgrims were marking Ashoura, which mourns the death in the 7th century of Imam Hussain, a grandson of the Prophet Mohamed. Hussain's death led to the split between Shia and Sunni Muslims.

After the bombing, which appeared to be a sectarian attack, security forces battled enraged worshippers who set fire to shops and cars.

Three men and a woman died in a separate shooting on a minibus on the outskirts of the town. Security officials said angry Shia protesting against the bombing had blocked a road and opened fire on the bus.

In Afghanistan, hundreds of Shia and Sunni Muslims clashed in the western city of Herat, hurling grenades and burning mosques. At least five people were killed and 51 injured.

In Iraq, tens of thousands of pilgrims marched through the holy city of Karbala, but no violence related to the festival was reported amid tight security. In the previous two years the event has been targeted by Sunni Arab suicide bombers, who killed more than 230 people.

Sectarian attacks have often marred the annual festival in Pakistan, but rarely in Afghanistan. Two years ago, a suicide attack on a Shia procession by Sunni militants in the south-western Pakistan city of Quetta left 44 dead. Pakistan declared a curfew and deployed its army to restore order in Hangu, a market town of about 200,000 people.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack. Akram Durrani, the top elected official in the province, said a preliminary investigation showed the attack was a suicide bombing. The district administrator, Ghani ur-Rehman said the ensuing violence had destroyed 60 per cent of the town's bazaar. He added that the situation had been brought under control by early afternoon.