The Taliban consider worship at Sufi shrines to be illegitimate. This is how they make their point. “Terror strikes mosque at Friday prayers; 10 worshippers killed,” from the Economic Times, March 4 (thanks to Mijanur):
PESHAWAR: Ten worshippers, including a child, were killed and 30 others injured when a powerful bomb blast ripped through a mosque within a Sufi shrine at Nowshera in northwest Pakistan today.
The explosion targeted the mosque inside Akhun Punjo Baba mazar (shrine) in Akbarpura area of Nowshera, about 15 km from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa capital Peshawar.
Scores of people were offering Friday prayers at the mosque while hundreds had gathered to take food from a ‘langar’ or community kitchen.
Ten worshippers, including a child, were killed, police said.
At least 30 others were injured and the condition of eight was described by officials as serious….
Fazal Diyan, a witness, told Geo News channel that the blast occurred just after the prayers ended.
“The blast occurred within the mosque,” he said. He estimated that over 1,000 people were present in the shrine. No group claimed responsibility for the blast.
The explosion was heard from several kilometres away. Reports said the blast was caused by a remote controlled bomb hidden in a cupboard within the mosque….
The Pakistani Taliban are opposed to the practice of worshipping at Sufi shrines and consider it “un-Islamic”.
The Taliban have claimed responsibility for several recent attacks on Sufi shrines in cities across Pakistan, including Lahore and Karachi.
President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani condemned the bomb blast in the mosque.
In a message,Zardari described the attack as an “abhorrent act” and said its perpetrators were the enemies of Islam….