A Pakistani man reacts next to the body of a relative killed in a bomb attack at a hospital mortuary in Karachi on Sunday.
Residents of the Pakistani city of Karachi mourned on Monday the victims of an explosion in a Shiite neighborhood that police said killed 52 and injured 127.
The explosion rocked the Abbas area of the southern port city on Sunday when a timer was used to detonate a car packed with 150 kilograms of explosives, police spokesman Khalid Hussein said by telephone.
“According to initial police reports of the incident, 52 people, including women and children, were killed and 127 injured,” Mr Hussain said.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.
News International quoted the police chief of Sindh province, of which Karachi is the capital, as saying the attack was carried out by the banned Sunni extremist group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and the Taliban, also Sunnis.
The Sindh government declared Monday as a day of mourning and the national flag was flown at half-mast at all official buildings.
The city of more than 18 million people came to a standstill on Monday after various Shiite organizations declared three days of mourning and political groups joined the strike.
Local media reported that businesses were closed, public transport was off the roads and educational institutions were closed.
Karachi, the country’s most populous city, has seen a surge in violence in recent years.
Attacks against Shiites, who make up 20 percent of Pakistan’s more than 180 million people, are on the rise. At least 228 people have died this year after two attacks in Quetta killed 176 people.
Published – March 4, 2013 3:42 pm EST.