Two bombs kill at least 33 people in Pakistan

MULTAN, Pakistan -- Two bombs exploded at a gathering of Islamic radicals in central Pakistan before dawn today, killing at least 33 people and injuring dozens in what appeared to be the latest in a string of sectarian attacks, police said.

The blasts came as about 3,000 people in Multan were marking the anniversary of the death of Maulana Azam Tariq, the leader of outlawed Sipah-e-Sahaba group. He was murdered last year in an attack blamed on Shiite Muslim militants. His group has been accused of killing hundreds of minority Shiite Muslims in recent years.

A car bomb exploded near the site in a residential neighborhood, and within minutes a second bomb attached to a motorcycle went off, deputy city police chief Arshad Mohammed said.

City police chief Skindar Hayyat said that at least 34 people were killed.

That death toll was confirmed by Dr. Mohammed Tayyab at the Nishtar government hospital. He added that at least 70 people were treated there for injuries and several other injured were sent elsewhere.

But Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said 33 people were killed and more than 50 others injured.

"It seems to be an act of sectarian terrorism, but we are still investigating," said Arshad Moham-med, the deputy police chief.

Most of Pakistan's Sunni and Shiite Muslims live peacefully together, but small radical groups on both sides are responsible for frequent attacks. About 97 percent of Pakistan's population is Muslim, and Sunnis outnumber Shiites by a ratio of about 8-to-2.

Thursday's blasts came six days after a suicide attacker detonated a bomb inside a crowded Shiite mosque in the eastern city of Sialkot during Friday prayers, killing 31 people and injuring more than 50.

Tariq, a lawmaker and the one-time leader of the outlawed Sunni group, was on his way to a parliamentary session when gunmen ambushed his car, killing him along with three bodyguards and a driver.