IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser.

Top Pakistani cleric killed in suicide bombing

A suicide attacker detonated a bomb near the home of a prominent Shiite Muslim cleric in this southern Pakistan city on Friday, killing him and one of his relatives, police said.
/ Source: msnbc.com news services

A suicide attacker detonated a bomb near the home of a prominent Shiite Muslim cleric in this southern Pakistan city on Friday, killing him and one of his relatives, police said.

A guard of the cleric, Allama Hassan Turabi, was also seriously hurt in the blast that shook downtown Karachi, said Manzoor Mughal, a senior police investigator. The attacker was also killed, he said.

Mughal said Turabi died of his injuries at a hospital. Dr. Abdul Rashid at the private Patel Hospital confirmed the cleric's death.

In April, a roadside bomb went off near Turabi’s car in Karachi, wounding his two guards and a passer-by in what appeared to be a sectarian attack.

Turabi wass leader of a Shiite party, Islamic Tehreek Pakistan. He was also chief in the southern province of Sindh for Mutahida Majlis-e-Amal or United Action Forum, a hard-line opposition religious coalition.

Pakistan has been beset for years by sectarian attacks of extremist elements among the majority Sunni and minority Shiite sects.