Thousands Attend Funeral for Pakistan Bomb Victims

Map of Pakistan (file photo)

Thousands of people gathered in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi Saturday to attend a funeral for those killed in two bomb attacks.

At least 33 people were killed and 170 wounded Friday when suspected Sunni militants set off one bomb near a bus carrying Shi'ite Muslim worshippers and another outside the hospital treating victims of the first blast.

Many businesses were closed Saturday as the city mourned the deaths. Officials said security forces were on high alert in the area.

Many of the bombing victims were women and children on their way to a procession marking the end of 40 days of mourning for Imam Hussein, the Prophet Muhammad's grandson. The Shi'ite ritual takes place every year.

Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi condemned the bombings as an act of terrorism.

Karachi has been the scene of sporadic violence between Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims.

At the end of December, at least 43 people were killed when a bomb ripped through a Shi'ite procession in Karachi marking the anniversary of Imam Hussein's death.

In the past week, at least 26 people were killed in clashes in Karachi between activists from rival political parties - the Muttahid Qaumi Movement and the Awami National Party, which traditionally gather support from different ethnic groups.