29 May 2010

Gunmen attack Pakistan mosques, 80 killed

9:58 pm on 29 May 2010

Gunmen attacked worshippers from a minority Muslim sect at two mosques in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore on Friday, taking hostages and killing at least 80 people.

The gunmen opened fire shortly after Friday prayers and threw grenades. Three of them blew themselves up with suicide vests packed with explosives when police tried to enter the building, police say.

A man was subsequently arrested; another wanted by police is still at large.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but suspicion quickly fell on the Pakistani Taliban.

Punjab's Law Minister Rana Sanaullah said the arrested attacker was a teenage Pashtun, an ethnic group making up the majority in parts of northern Pakistan and Afghanistan. This, he said, indicated a link to the Pakistani tribal area of Waziristan and strongly hinted at a Taliban link.

The Pakistani government does not consider the Ahmadi sect to be true Muslims. A sect spokesperson, Mujeeb ur-Rehmann, says they suffer discrimination and persecution.