An Ashura procession in Quetta was attacked by gunmen and a suicide bomber, triggering chaotic shoot-outs and mob rampages.
Tuesday's assault during which many were killed instantly also left around 150 people wounded in the capital city of Balochistan province, which borders Afghanistan. Three attackers were shot dead while another was wounded and is in custody, provincial government offials said.
"Two gunmen on top of a building opened indiscriminate fire at the same time as a suicide bomber walked into the crowd and blew himself up. Another two gunmen accompanying the bomber on the ground then sprayed bullets into the crowd," a Quetta-based intelligence official said.
"Police then joined in the firing, not knowing where the shots came from they started firing in all directions, up and down. This led to complete chaos and pandemonium. It was a free-for all."
Three of the four gunmen were shot dead while the other was wounded by a bullet in his head. He survived and is under arrest. Soldiers armed with automatic rifles and machine guns patrolled rubble-strewn streets and burned-out shops set alight after the attack on the procession.
This dusty city of one million people, 100 kilometres from the Afghan border was placed under curfew on Tuesday after rioting during which rampaging mobs torched a cinema house and many shops and vehicles.
Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat, blaming the attack on extremists, said investigators had obtained important leads from the injured assailant.
"The information will help break the extremist network that may be behind the heinous act," he said, adding that several policemen were among the victims.
President Pervez Musharraf condemned the "terrorist attack" and ordered an inquiry, reiterating the government's resolve to eliminate all forms of terrorism from the country.
Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad told the Senate in Islamabad that a high court judge would head the inquiry into the Quetta attack.
He said that the findings of the probe would be placed before the Senate. The attack was the third in Quetta in less than a year. Last July nearly 50 worshippers were gunned down as they prayed at a mosque, and in June 12 police cadets were shot dead on a bus.
"This is the third major attack on our community in the past nine months and this shows that the provincial government has failed to protect our community," said local leader Jawad Esar.
"The provincial government should resign forthwith for failing to prevent attacks on us," Esar told reporters. The burial of the victims was delayed as the community demanded release of about two dozen of its members detained after the incident when they went to hospitals to donate blood for the injured, community leaders said.
Around 200 staged a peaceful demonstration at Multan in central Punjab province demanding protection against attacks.
The independent Human Rights Commission called the violence "a terrible reflection on the rising spiral of sectarian militancy."
Shiites account for some 20 percent of Pakistan's 140 million Muslims, with Sunnis making up the 80 percent majority.
The communities generally cohabit peacefully but fanatics have been killing each other in drive-by shootings and attacks on mosques since the early 1980s.
Six police officers were among the 47 dead, according to a Quetta-based police officer who did not want to be named. Schools, colleges and shops remained closed under the second day of curfew ordered by mayor Mohammad Rahim Kakar.
Up to 70 shops, mostly owned by Sunni merchants, were torched by mobs on Tuesday along with a dozen vehicles.
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