KARACHI: Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM)?s chief Altaf Hussain said tomorrow will be a day of mourning for the victims of Karachi suicide blast.
Altaf, while appealing the public to remain calm, condoled the deaths of innocent mourners. He also requested for sectarian harmony.
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KARACHI: At least 30 people were killed and scores of people wounded on Monday after a powerful blast ripped through the Karachi?s main Ashura procession at MA Jinnah Road.
The blast struck the city?s main Ashura procession near Tibet Center at MA Jinnah Road, killing at least 30 people and wounding 80 others.
Fahim Siddiqui, senior reporter of Geo News, is also among the injured. Siddiqui has been shifted to a nearby hospital, where he is getting emergency treatment.
Earlier in the day, hundreds of mourning processions converged to Nishtar Park, from where they marched down the MA Jinnah Road. As the mourners reached the Tibet Center, a powerful blast took place.
The blast triggered stampede and panic among the participants of the procession. Some unknown armed men also fired shots. Fire broke out after the blast in Karachi, fanning thick smoke into the sky, and people were running in all directions.
Speaking to Geo News, Interior Minister Rehman Malik strongly condemned the blast and termed it a suicide attack. Malik said no Muslim could be involved in such heinous acts of terrorism.
MQM chief Altaf Hussian also called upon the people to maintain calm.
President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani, in their separate messages, have also strongly condemned the blast at main procession of Aushra in Karachi on Monday.
The President and the Prime Minister also ordered immediate inquiry and submission of report. They also ordered for provision of immediate best medical facilities to the injured. The two leaders also appealed to the masses to remain peaceful.
According to media reports, angry mob have set ablaze Light House building situated at the MA Jinnah Road. While several vehicles, parked around the city court, have also been set on fire, sources said.
People are stranded in the building, which was set on fire.
There are also reports of unrest at different parts of the city, including Numaish, Jafar Society and MA Jinnah Road.
Edhi ambulances, KESC vehicles and police mobiles were torched.
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ISLAMABAD: Commenting on the speech of President Asif Ali Zardari, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has said their is no conspiracy against th
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MELBOURNE: Pakistan, struggling to avoid follow-on, were 109 runs for four wickets at stumps on second day of the first Test against Australia on Sunday here at the MCG.
After the surprising declaration by Australia captain Ricky Ponting an hour before tea, Pakistan batsmen played under pressure and lost their first wicket at 26 when opener Imran Farhat was out lbw by fast bowler Neil Johnson at 9.
Pakistan were 33-1 at tea and later they lost three more wickets in the final session. Faisal Iqbal was dismissed by off-spinner Nathan Hauritz caught Michael Clarke for 15 when Pakistan reached 59.
Then, captain Mohammad Yousuf joined opener Salman Butt and they added 25 runs before Butt was lbw to Shane Watson after scoring responsible 45.
Later, Yousuf who was batting at ease got an edge from glove to give catch to wicketkeeper Brad Haddin just a minute befor the stumps. He made 22.
Earlier, Ricky Ponting called his men in when night watchman Nathan Hauritz was given out on 75 - his highest Test score - by review leaving Pakistan an hour to bat out to tea.
Hauritz was lbw to Abdur Rauf after three hours at the crease, Michael Clarke remained unbeaten on 28.
However, the off-spinner appears to have exacerbated a groin strain he carried into the match and looked uncomfortable in the latter stages of the innings.
Michael Hussey joined the long list of Australian batsman failing to convert a good score into a 100 when he fell on 82 this morning.
Pakistan bowlers seemed at a loss what to do on the docile Melbourne pitch and it is a worry that a night watchman like Hauritz should survive the morning spell with a relatively new ball and few problems.
Hauritz was dropped on 36 and played the odd false shot but he also contributed a couple of almost batsman like wafts of the willow.
Hussey became spinner Saeed Ajmal?s (1-129) first wicket of the match when he was trapped lbw with the score on 382.
A referral showed the ball hit slightly outside the line of off stump, but not so much that it warranted a reversal.
Hussey and the night watchman Hauritz put on 91 runs in 127 minutes from 178 balls.
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Pakistan News
A suicide bombing targeting a Shiite Muslim procession in Pakistan’s largest city of Karachi killed 30 people and wounded dozens more Monday, as Shiites across the country marked the key holy day of Ashoura.
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DURBAN: Andrew Strauss hit a sparkling half-century and led a strong England response to a challenging South African total on the second day of the second Test at Kingsmead here on Sunday.
Strauss made 54 as England reached 103 for one in reply to South Africa?s 343 all out before bad light stopped play an hour before the scheduled close.
On an overcast day, with the floodlights on from the start of play, South Africa?s total seemed a good effort in conditions which had been expected to be favourable for bowlers. But Strauss made batting look easy as he struck eight fours and reached 50 off 49 balls before tea, taking advantage of some ill-directed South African bowling, as he and opening partner Alastair Cook took the total to 59 for no wicket off 14 overs.
The resumption was delayed by half an hour because of rain.
South Africa bowled better after the break, however, and Strauss was given out leg before wicket to Morne Morkel before he had added to his score, surviving when he asked for a review and a replay showed a faint inside edge into his pads.
Strauss played only one more scoring stroke, a slash for four off Morkel, before the tall fast bowler forced him back onto his stumps and bowled him off an inside edge.
Morkel was easily South Africa?s best bowler, taking one for 22 in nine overs.
It was the second successive day on which a substantial amount of play was lost.
AB de Villiers (50) and Mark Boucher (39) batted positively at the start of the day after South Africa resumed on a shaky 175 for five.
England?s fast bowlers were unable to repeat the accuracy they produced on the first day when South Africa were made to battle for almost every run. De Villiers and Boucher took their sixth wicket stand to 63 off 102 balls before Boucher fell victim to the umpiring review system with 2.5 overs remaining before the second new ball.
Boucher stretched well forward to off-spinner Graeme Swann, with bat and pad close together. Swann?s appeal for leg before wicket was turned down by umpire Amish Saheba, which before the introduction of technology would have been the logical decision. But England sought a review and replays showed the ball would have hit just below the bails, so the decision was reversed and Boucher had to go.
Boucher had been in good form, making his runs off 50 balls with five fours and outscoring De Villiers, who batted solidly.
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KARACHI: Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief Altaf Hussain, condemning the today?s suicide blast at Karachi Ashura procession, has appealed to masses to remain peaceful.
Speaking to Geo News on phone from London, he said attack on the mourner of Hazrat Imam Hussain was a cowardly act. He said that innocent people were martyred in the blast.
He said that he had been repeatedly warning the citizens of Karachi and Pakistan from the threat of Talibanization. However, the authorities did not pay heed to my warnings.
?I appeal to the affected families that they should maintain calm,? he said.
The MQM chief also expressed profound grief with the aggrieved families.
It may be mentioned here that at least 20 people were martyred and many more injured when a suicide bomber blew him up at the city?s main Ashura procession.
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Police say a bomb blast has struck a major Shiite Muslim procession in Pakistan’s largest city of Karachi, where Shiites are marking the key holy day of Ashura.
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A bomb attack ripped through a procession of Shiite Muslim worshippers in Pakistan’s city of Karachi on Monday, killing three people and wounding a large number of others, police said.
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KARACHI: Geo News reporter Fahim Siddiqi has sustained injuries in a powerful blast that hit the Karachi?s main Ashura procession on Monday, killing at least 20 people and injuring many more.
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