Fasih Khan
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Bombing Strikes Ceremony in Iran
By WILL YONG and ALAN COWELL
TEHRAN A suicide attack wounded dozens of Shiite Muslims at a highly symbolic and emotionally charged mourning ceremony near a mosque in southeastern Iran on Wednesday, the official IRNA news agency said. Another report said that 15 people had been killed.
At least one bomber detonated a belt of explosives outside the Imam Hussein Mosque in the city of Chabahar near the border with Pakistan, IRNA said.
Press TV, a state-run broadcaster, said there had been two attackers but there was no immediate confirmation of that report. But initial accounts of both the casualties and the number of attackers were initially confused. One report quoting emergency workers said 15 people had been killed.
The bombing coincided with the mourning period leading up to Ashura, which commemorates the death of Imam Hussein, the grandson of Islams prophet Muhammad in the 7th century.
The mourning period is marked in many countries including Iraq and Pakistan where there have been attacks on Shiite Muslims during one of the most important ceremonies of their religious calendar.
One of the attackers detonated a bomb outside the mosque and the other struck from inside a crowd of worshippers, state TV reported.
The semi-official ILNA news agency said three people were involved in the bombing. One died when explosives detonated. One other carried explosives which failed to detonate and was captured by police. A third man was arrested, the report said.
Chabahar is one of the largest cities in the province of Sistan-Baluchestan which has a largely ethnic Baluch population who are Sunni *******.
The city is not known for being a target of terrorist attacks which mainly focus on the provincial capital Zahedan. Chabahar has in recent years seen a growth in prosperity as a result of domestic tourism and a successful free trade zone.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
The bombing seemed to underscore the continuing threat of religious and ethnic violence in Iran, unrelated to political upheavals since the June 2009 elections.
Last July, a Sunni militant group in southeastern Iran whose leader had been executed by Iranian authorities claimed responsibility for one of the deadliest terrorist attacks Iran has seen in years: a double suicide bombing outside a mosque that killed 26 people and wounded 300.
The victims included members of the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, officials said, which the militant group Jundallah has singled out repeatedly in the past.
The group claims to be fighting on behalf of Sunni Muslim members of the Baluch ethnic group in Iran and Pakistan and has been a thorn in the side of Irans security services for years, repeatedly bombing Zahedan and other southeastern cities.
It claimed responsibility for an attack in October 2009 that killed 40 people, including 15 members of the Revolutionary Guards.
Iran said it struck a major blow against the group earlier this year after it captured a Jundallah leader, Abdolmalek Rigi, and executed him in June.
Will Yong reported from Tehran, and Alan Cowell from Berlin.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/16/world/middleeast/16iran.html?src=twrhp
By WILL YONG and ALAN COWELL
TEHRAN A suicide attack wounded dozens of Shiite Muslims at a highly symbolic and emotionally charged mourning ceremony near a mosque in southeastern Iran on Wednesday, the official IRNA news agency said. Another report said that 15 people had been killed.
At least one bomber detonated a belt of explosives outside the Imam Hussein Mosque in the city of Chabahar near the border with Pakistan, IRNA said.
Press TV, a state-run broadcaster, said there had been two attackers but there was no immediate confirmation of that report. But initial accounts of both the casualties and the number of attackers were initially confused. One report quoting emergency workers said 15 people had been killed.
The bombing coincided with the mourning period leading up to Ashura, which commemorates the death of Imam Hussein, the grandson of Islams prophet Muhammad in the 7th century.
The mourning period is marked in many countries including Iraq and Pakistan where there have been attacks on Shiite Muslims during one of the most important ceremonies of their religious calendar.
One of the attackers detonated a bomb outside the mosque and the other struck from inside a crowd of worshippers, state TV reported.
The semi-official ILNA news agency said three people were involved in the bombing. One died when explosives detonated. One other carried explosives which failed to detonate and was captured by police. A third man was arrested, the report said.
Chabahar is one of the largest cities in the province of Sistan-Baluchestan which has a largely ethnic Baluch population who are Sunni *******.
The city is not known for being a target of terrorist attacks which mainly focus on the provincial capital Zahedan. Chabahar has in recent years seen a growth in prosperity as a result of domestic tourism and a successful free trade zone.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
The bombing seemed to underscore the continuing threat of religious and ethnic violence in Iran, unrelated to political upheavals since the June 2009 elections.
Last July, a Sunni militant group in southeastern Iran whose leader had been executed by Iranian authorities claimed responsibility for one of the deadliest terrorist attacks Iran has seen in years: a double suicide bombing outside a mosque that killed 26 people and wounded 300.
The victims included members of the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, officials said, which the militant group Jundallah has singled out repeatedly in the past.
The group claims to be fighting on behalf of Sunni Muslim members of the Baluch ethnic group in Iran and Pakistan and has been a thorn in the side of Irans security services for years, repeatedly bombing Zahedan and other southeastern cities.
It claimed responsibility for an attack in October 2009 that killed 40 people, including 15 members of the Revolutionary Guards.
Iran said it struck a major blow against the group earlier this year after it captured a Jundallah leader, Abdolmalek Rigi, and executed him in June.
Will Yong reported from Tehran, and Alan Cowell from Berlin.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/16/world/middleeast/16iran.html?src=twrhp
