Pakistan mourns bombing victims
Hundreds of people mourned the victims of a suicide bombing that killed 26 people at a crowded Shiite mosque in Pakistan, while many staged protests against the attack.
Mourners walked through metal detectors and were physically searched before lining up for funeral prayers at the soccer field near the mosque in Chakwal city, local television footage showed.
Officials said the security was important, noting that militants have often targeted funeral congregations in US-allied Pakistan, where violence has spread far beyond the Afghan border region where al Qaida and the Taliban thrive.
Afterwards, a few hundred people marched in protest along a main city street, burning a few tyres and chanting slogans condemning the attack, said Mujahid Hussain, a police official.
A little-known group believed to be linked to the Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack in Chakwal, 50 miles south of the capital, Islamabad.
Pakistan also has a history of sectarian violence, often involving Sunni extremists targeting minority Shiite Muslims.
Investigator Chaudhry Zulfiqar said the death toll from the explosion rose to 26 after four people died in hospitals overnight.
The mosque attack came as a senior Pakistani Taliban commander said his group was behind another deadly suicide bombing on Saturday in Islamabad and promised two more attacks per week in the country if the US does not stop missile strikes on Pakistani territory.
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani condemned Sunday's attack and directed authorities to "bring the perpetrators to justice."
Most of the militant attacks in Pakistan occur in the north-west, where the Taliban and al Qaida have strongholds from which they plan strikes on US and Nato forces across the border in Afghanistan.