Gunmen Kill, Injure Shiite Worshipers

Gunmen opened fire on worshipers in two Shiite mosques early Saturday, killing at least 18 men and wounding many more, police and witnesses said.

The massacres were part of the escalating feud in Pakistan between Sunni and Shiite Muslims that has left hundreds dead, mostly in this southern port city.

In the first attack, six men were killed and several injured when the four assailants began shooting with automatic weapons in the Abu-al-Abbas mosque in the Karachi East district.

About 30 minutes later, 12 people were killed and six injured when gunmen fired on worshipers that had been herded into one room at the Mehfil Murtaza mosque, two miles from the site of the earlier massacre, an official said.