Associated Press
KARACHI, Pakistan – Four assailants opened fire Thursday inside a mosque in Pakistan’s largest city, killing at least five Shiite Muslim worshippers, including two children, police and hospital officials said.
Four others were injured in the attack at al-Murtaza mosque in the central district of the city, police said. The assailants escaped on two motorcycles, police said.
At least one of the wounded was in critical condition, hospital officials said.
The reason for the attack was not immediately clear. Pakistan has long seen violence between rival militant groups from the majority Sunni branch of Islam and the minority Shiite branch.
Tensions are also running high here because of an anticipated U.S. attack on Afghanistan because its Taliban rulers refuse to hand over Osama bin Laden, alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States.
Several Islamic parties in Karachi have held rallies in support of the Taliban.
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