Multan: a strong roadside bomb exploded among the Shia Muslim procession amid Pakistan on Thursday, killing at least three and injuring more than 50 people, the local police said.
The video circulating on social media showed the police and ambulants rushed to the location of the explosion.
Some injured people were seen waiting for help along the road in the very conservative city of Bahawalnagar in the East Punjab Province, where the attack took place.
City Police officers Mohammad Asad Andshia Leader Khawar Shafqat confirmed the bombing.
Eyewitnesses said tensions are now high in the city, with Shii protesting the attack and demanding retribution.
Shafqat said the explosion left while the procession passed a traffic jam known as the Muhajir colony.
He condemned the attack and urged the government to improve security in such processes, which are ongoing in other parts of the country too.
Communication in the area is difficult, because the authorities have suspended mobile services throughout the country a day ago ahead of the Thesia Ashoura festival.
The annual commemoration lamented the death of the 7th century Prophet Muhammad’s Hussein, one of the most Islamic beloved saints.
For Shias, Hussein’s warning was an emotional event that saw many believers crying over his death at the Battle of Karbala in Iraq at this time.
During the Ashura procession, which was held throughout the world, many participants beat their backs with a chain, marking themselves in the expression of symbolic regret because it could not help Hussein before his chiries.
Shia is a minority in Pakistan Sunni Muslims who are dominant, where Sunni extremist Muslims see them as apostates who deserve death.