Gunmen Kill 21 Muslim Worshipers In Attack On Mosque
Mr. Death-By-Diversity...
...Says, "Hello, my brothers."Mon 09/23/96
...Says, "Hello, my brothers."By Kathy Gannon Associated Press Writer ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) - Maskedgunmen opened fire on Sunni Muslims praying at a mosque in southern Punjabtoday, killing 21 people and wounding at least 33, police and witnessessaid.
The early morning prayers had just begun at the Majid Al-Khair mosque inMultan, 270 miles south of Islamabad, when gunmen burst in and sprayed themosque with machine gun fire, witnesses said. The gunmen then fled.
The dead were all Sunni Muslims, like most Pakistanis in this Islamic nationof 140 million. Hospital officials said many of the dead were boys aged10 to 16 from a religious school adjacent to the mosque.
After the attack, hundreds of police and paramilitary soldiers patrolledthe streets of Multan, a city of 500,000, traveling in armored personnelcarriers and jeeps mounted with machine guns. The streets were desertedand shops were shuttered.
No one claimed responsibility for the killings, but officials said theybelieve it may have been retaliation for Sunday's shooting death of a ShiiteMuslim leader in Bawahalpur, 50 miles south of Multan.
Sectarian violence between Pakistan's rival Shiite and Sunni Muslims hasincreased recently.
In northeastern Pakistan earlier this month, a week-long battle killed morethan 100 people. The army was deployed before calm was restored.
The rivalry between the two groups dates to the seventh century and theinception of Islam. They disagree on the heir to Islam's prophet Mohammed.
Shiites believe it was Mohammed's grandson, later killed by rival Sunnis.Sunni Muslims believe that their prophet had passed on the mantle of leadershipto his closest aides.
Copyright 1996 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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