Eight killed by suicide bomber at Pakistani mosque

ISLAMABAD— At least eight people were killed in an overnight attack at a Shiite mosque in Pakistan, as the government established nine military courts for speedy trial of terrorists, officials said Saturday.

The bomber detonated his explosives when stopped by police and Shiite volunteers at the gate of Aun Muhammad Rizvi Imambargah in the garrison city of Rawalpindi near Islamabad. Regional police chief Akhtar Umer Hayat confirmed the attack that killed eight people, including a police constable. Muhammad Waqas of Rescue 1122 ambulance service said 16 injured victims were taken to hospitals.

Witness Saeed Ahmad said the bomber came on a motorbike that he parked outside the mosque and tried to enter the compound where about 150 people were participating in a congregation.

“It would have been a disaster if he (the bomber) had entered the building,” he said.

TV footage showed the entrance of a three-storey building and some nearby houses were badly damaged from the blast.

The Shiites are about 20 per cent of Pakistan’s population and are often attacked by Sunni extremist groups who consider them heretics.

Military spokesman Maj.- Gen. Asim Saleem Bjawa said nine military courts have been established and they “will start functioning soon.”

Pakistan’s parliament this week amended the constitution to create special courts as pressure mounted on authorities to take strong actions against rebels who attacked a school and killed at least 136 students in December.

ANJUM NAVEED/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS A Pakistani Shiite Muslim mourns over the death of his family member at the site where a suicide bomber on a motorbike detonated his explosives in front of a mosque near Islamabad.