Massive blast kills 45 in Karachi

(Vatican Radio) The city of Karachi was shut down Monday for a day of mourning, after a massie suicide bombing Sunday killed 45 people and left 146 people injured.

Medical authorities fear the death toll may mount, as 32 of the injured remain in serious condition.

The blast targeted members of the minority Shiite Muslim sect, who were leaving a mosque in Pakistan’s commercial capital when the bomb detonated.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility though some authorities believe Sunday’s attack is the latest in escalating sectarian violence by Sunni groups against the Shiite minority.

This was the third mass attack of the year against the Shiites. The first two killed nearly 200 people in the south-western city of Quetta. The Sunni militant group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi had claimed responsibility.

In the 1980s and 1990s, Pakistani intelligence had helped nurture Sunni militant groups like Lashkar-e-Jhangvi to counter a perceived threat from neighbouring, mostly Shiite, Iran. However, Pakistan officially banned Lashkar-e-Jhangvi in 2001.

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