ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) — A suicide bomber ran past guards at a minority Shi’ite mosque in eastern Pakistan and then blew himself up Sunday, wounding several worshippers, officials said.
The attack appeared to be the latest in a string by Sunni extremists against other Muslims they consider infidels.
It took place in Sargodha city, which is in Punjab, Pakistan’s most populous province and its political heartland.
The region increasingly is coming under attack by al Qaeda and Taliban militants that have logistics and training centers close to the Afghan border several hundred miles away.
Government official Zulfikar Shah said guards at the mosque tried to stop the suicide attacker, but he evaded them.
Sargodha police Chief Bashir Ahmad said several people had been taken to the hospital, some of whom were in critical condition. He could not give an exact figure.
Earlier this month, militants bombed a Muslim shrine in the Punjabi city of Lahore, killing more than 40 people.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was visiting Pakistan on Sunday but was meeting officials hundreds of miles away in the capital of Islamabad.
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