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An enraged Shiite mob has rioted through the Pakistani city of Quetta, after a suicide attack on their mosque killed as many as 47 worshippers.

The government called in troops and imposed a curfew to try to quell the violence.

Officials said the devastation could have been much worse.

Hours after Friday's blast, police found two bombs near the main wall of the mosque.

Both were defused by bomb disposal experts, an intelligence official and police sources said in Quetta.

It was unclear how long the bombs had been there, concealed in tin canisters, police official Abdul Hai said.

No-one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. It was the latest in a long series of assaults on Pakistan's Shiite Muslim minority.

Most attacks have been blamed on radical groups from the country's Sunni Muslim majority.

Around 2,000 people were praying when three attackers entered the mosque, said Zulifquar Ali, a worshipper who suffered minor shrapnel wounds.

"First they killed security guards outside the mosque. Then they moved inside the mosque and started firing on the people," he said.

A security guard killed one attacker, Ali said. "The other attacker blew himself up."

The third man was seized by worshippers, many of whom had their clothes soaked in blood, and was handed over to police. Other witnesses said grenades were thrown into the mosque.

Information minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed blamed "sectarian elements" for the attack. He confirmed that two suicide bombers were killed inside the mosque and said another attacker was killed in a shootout with security guards outside.

Officials said a fourth attacker was arrested.

Accounts of the death toll have varied. Emergency officials put the death toll at 47, while Ahmed said at least 30 died and 52 were injured.

© Associated Press

Story filed: 08:16 Saturday 5th July 2003

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