Local rivalry blamed for Pakistan shrine bomb

A time bomb exploded in a Muslim shrine in southwestern Pakistan as devotees were served food, killing at least 29 people and…

A time bomb exploded in a Muslim shrine in southwestern Pakistan as devotees were served food, killing at least 29 people and wounding 40.

Police said today they believed that local rivalry was the motive.

Officials earlier said at least 32 people had been killed in the late Saturday blast at the shrine of a saint near Gandhawa town in the province of Baluchistan, and the motive was initially believed to be either sectarian or separatist.

But today Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao said 29 people had been killed and police were investigating the possibility that rivalry between caretakers of the shrine might have been behind the attack.

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The shrine, 420 km (260 miles) north of Pakistan's largest city, Karachi, is a Shia Muslim place of worship but members of the majority Sunni community also traditionally pay their respects there.

Mr Sherpao ruled out the possibility that Sunni-Shia rivalry or the tribal militants were behind the latest blast.

Many of the injured were hurt in a stampede after the blast.