Taliban attack kills up to 38 at Pakistan funeral

A suicide bomber targeted a Pakistani funeral on Thursday, killing up to 38 people and wounding dozens more, mostly police officers in a rare attack claimed by the Taliban in the turbulent southwest. The bombing at police headquarters in the city of Quetta will raise concerns that Pakistan's umbrella Taliban movement poses an ever deadlier challenge since the newly elected government took office. Officers had gathered to pay their respects to a colleague shot dead only hours earlier, but the ceremony turned into a bloodbath shortly before the start of the Muslim festival Eid al-Fitr. Those killed included Fayaz Sumbal, one of the most senior officers in Quetta, the provincial capital of Baluchistan where sectarian and separatist violence are more common than attacks claimed by the Taliban. "At least 38 people have been killed and more than 50 injured," senior police official Mohammad Tariq told AFP. "Most of the dead and injured are policemen." Another police officer confirmed the toll, although two other top officials said at least 30 people had died. A son of the imam of the mosque at the police headquarters was among the dead, doctor Syed Sarwar Shah told AFP at one hospital. Baluchistan police chief Mushtaq Sukhera said 21 of 30 dead bodies had been identified as policemen. "The death toll may rise because the condition of most of the injured is critical," he told a news conference. When asked whether the attacker may have been helped by an insider within the police force, he said: "Yes we will also investigate the involvement of any insider." "Our brave officers embraced martyrdom but we will continue sacrificing our lives for the security of our motherland," he said. Shahidullah Shahid, a spokesman for Pakistan's umbrella Tehreek-e-Taliban faction, claimed responsibility. "We did it and soon you see another big attack in the next coming days," he said. Pakistani authorities have been on alert for fear of attacks over the Eid holiday, which lasts until Sunday. Shahid said the attack was to avenge those killed in US drone strikes, which target Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants in Pakistan's lawless tribal belt, on the Afghan border north of Baluchistan. "We are at war with police and other security agencies. They are attacking us and we are targeting them," Shahid said. "Anywhere and whenever we get the chance, we will target security forces, government officials and police," he added. The Pakistani Taliban have led an insurgency that has killed thousands of people across the country since July 2007, when the government raided an extremist mosque in the capital Islamabad. But most recent attacks in Quetta have been linked to a Baluch separatist insurgency or sectarian violence against the Shiite Muslim minority, making the Taliban claim unusual. Witnesses described the horrors they saw on a day that should have been greeted with joy as the end of the fasting month of Ramadan and as the beginning of Eid. "I was inside the mosque and we were lining up for the funeral prayers when a big blast took place. I came out and saw injured and dead bodies," policeman Mohammad Hafiz told reporters. "I have no words to explain what I've seen. It was horrible." Another witness told reporters he saw bodies scattered everywhere. "Most of the bodies were beyond recognition. We collected body parts and flesh," he said in an interview broadcast by TV channel ARY. "Those who are killing people, even inside mosques, are not human beings, they are beasts. They are not Muslims, they have nothing to do with Islam. Allah will never pardon them," he added. The blast capped a bloody Ramadan in Pakistan, where at least 11 attacks have killed more than 120 people during what is one of the holiest times in the Islamic calendar. Early Wednesday a bomb killed eight people at the end of a football tournament in Pakistan's biggest city Karachi, many of them young fans watching the game from the stands. On Tuesday Baluch separatist gunmen shot dead 14 people, including three security officials, 70 kilometres (44 miles) southeast of Quetta. Pakistan is also in dispute with India over the killing of five Indian soldiers in the disputed Kashmir region this week. On Thursday the Indian government for the first time directly accused Pakistan's army of involvement in the deadly ambush. Pakistan denies involvement in the killing and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif sought to ease tensions Thursday by urging both sides to work swiftly to shore up a 10-year ceasefire.