Suspected Islamic militants, including a suicide bomber, attacked a mosque today, killing 47 Shiite Muslim worshipers and wounding 65 others as they gathered for Friday Prayers in the southwestern city of Quetta, officials said. Three attackers died, Pakistani officials said. The mass killing, the first sectarian strike here to use a suicide bomber, appeared to be an effort to ignite a cycle of violence between Sunnis and Shiites and destabilize the country, the officials said. They said it was too early to pinpoint which group was responsible. There were conflicting accounts tonight of the details of the attack. Senior Pakistani law enforcement officials said two attackers were believed to have entered the Hazara Mosque early this afternoon as hundreds of faithful gathered. The Hazara are a predominantly Shiite minority ethnic group in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Full Story
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