Scores massacred in Pakistan mosque

An injured man is rushed from the mosque

At least 44 people have been killed and dozens injured in an attack on a mosque in the south-western Pakistani city of Quetta.

Three unidentified attackers entered the mosque in the capital of Balochistan province during Friday prayers and opened fire on about 2,000 Shia worshippers.

The gunmen were killed but the attack led to violent street protests by Shias, who blame a Sunni Muslim organisation.

President Pervez Musharraf has promised strong action against all religious extremists in Pakistan.

It is unfortunate that some elements in Pakistan are undermining what Pakistan stands for

President Pervez Musharraf

The attack took place between 1330 and 1345 local time.

Police say the gunmen entered the mosque firing automatic weapons and throwing hand grenades.

"We were offering prayers when I heard an explosion. I saw bodies blown to pieces," Khan Ali, a 60-year-old man injured in the blast, told the Reuters news agency.

Another victim, Ahmad Ali, told the Associated Press he had seen two attackers enter the mosque.

"One of them was placing something that I guess was a bomb when he was seen by a security guard. The guard killed him and the other one blew himself up," he said.

One man is in police custody but it is not clear whether he was connected to the attackers.

Bombs

Officials said the devastation could have been much worse.

Attack in pictures

Is violence spreading?

Police say that after the attack they found two bombs concealed in canisters near the main wall of the mosque. Both were defused.

No group has said it carried out the attack.

But members of the Shia community are blaming Sunni Muslims.

Hundreds of Shias took to the streets after the killings, attacking government property, setting fire to vehicles.

The city is under curfew and army troops have been patrolling the streets of Quetta and other cities, in an effort to prevent retaliatory attacks.

The BBC's Zaffar Abbas says the attack suggests that religious extremists who went into hiding after a crackdown last year are resurfacing.

Sectarian violence

President Musharraf called it one of the worst acts of terrorism and said the Islamic extremists involved in such brutality were illiterate, uncouth and had no love for Islam.

Speaking on his return from a tour of the United States and Europe, Mr Musharraf promised to take "strict action" against militants - especially those involved in Friday's armed attack.

He also asked the opposition Alliance of Islamic Parties to give up its protest campaign and concentrate on promoting religious tolerance.

Thousands of people have been killed in violence blamed on militants from the country's Sunni and Shia communities since the late 1980s.

Last month, 11 trainee Pakistani Shia police officers were shot dead in what is believed to have been a sectarian attack in Quetta.