Karachi bomb blasts leave many dead

Two suspected bomb blasts in the Pakistani city of Karachi, apparently targeting Shia Muslims marking a religious ceremony, have killed at least 20 people. A bomb-laden motorcycle first exploded on a main road in the city as a bus carrying Shia worshippers passed on Friday, killing at least 12 people and wounding 40 others. The second blast went off outside the hospital where the wounded were being taken, reportedly killing another eight people, witnesses said. "An explosion occurred at the Jinnah hospital near the emergency ward, where the bodies and injured were being taken," Dr Mushtaq Ahmad said. "I heard a large blast. People are running all over the place. Casualties are feared." Shias in Pakistan are marking Arbaeen - the end of a 40-day mourning period for Imam Hussein, a grandson of the Prophet Muhammad who was killed in a seventh century battle in Karbala. The violence in Karachi echoed similar attacks in Iraq against Shia Muslims gathered in Karbala to mark the occasion. It was not clear if either attack was carried out by a suicide bomber. "A bomb was planted on the motorcyle and it hit the bus," Waseem Ahmad, the city police chief, said. "We cannot determine in one and a half hours whether it was a suicide blast or not. We are examining the site. We are collecting the evidence. We are taking witness statements and then we will say something concrete."