Bloody Pakistan Mosque Blast

Suicide bomber kills dozens at prayer
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 21, 2007 3:10 AM CST
Bloody Pakistan Mosque Blast
Pakistan's former Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao speaks during a press conference in Peshawar, Pakistan on Thursday, Dec. 20, 2007. A suicide attacker detonated a bomb early Friday at a mosque outside the home of Sherpao as he received visitors on an Islamic holiday, killing at least 20 people...   (Associated Press)

A suicide bomber has killed at least 50 people praying in a mosque in northwestern Pakistan. The bomber blew himself up in the middle of a crowd saying Eid prayers. Former interior minister Aftab Sherpao is believed to have been the target, and reportedly survived the attack. An attempt on his life in April killed 28.

"The bomber was among the people, who were offering Eid prayers," said a police chief. "He was standing in the second row behind the former interior minister." A wave of bloody suicide bombings in Pakistan in the last six months has been blamed on Islamic militants in the northwest, who count Sherpao among their fiercest foes. (More Pakistan stories.)

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