22 killed near Pakistan mosque

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – A suicide bomber struck a Shiite Muslim mosque outside the Pakistani capital Sunday, killing 22 people, the latest sign of rising sectarian violence and the growing reach of the Islamic insurgency.

The attack took place in Chakwal, about 60 miles south of Islamabad, and came less than 24 hours after at least eight paramilitary troops were killed in a bombing in the capital and six days after militants stormed a police training center in the eastern city of Lahore.

The violence in Pakistan has long since spilled out of the tribal areas along the Afghan border, where Taliban and al-Qaida militants find a haven, and into Pakistan’s heartland. The bombing marked the third major attack in six weeks in Punjab, the country’s most populous and affluent province.

A Taliban-linked group claimed responsibility for Sunday’s bombing, which occurred at the entrance to a Shiite mosque packed with worshippers. Insurgents in Pakistan have stepped up efforts to sow chaos by fomenting violence between Sunni Muslims and the country’s Shiite minority.

A district police officer, B.A. Nasir, said guards intercepted the bomber before he could enter the mosque compound, where at least 1,000 people were gathered, thus preventing further carnage.

The pace of attacks has emphasized the fragility of Pakistan’s civilian government, in power just over a year. Prime Minister Yusaf Raza Gillani vowed to bring the perpetrators to justice, but most suicide bombings in the country go unsolved.

President Barack Obama has pledged new development aid to Pakistan but warned that it was not a “blank check” and that authorities must take decisive steps to quell the insurgency. The militants’ increasing strength in Pakistan has complicated Western troops’ battle with the Taliban and allied groups in Afghanistan.

The Fedayeen al-Islam, which is believed either to be allied with Pakistan’s Taliban movement or a front for another Taliban-linked group, claimed responsibility for Sunday’s attack in calls to Western news agencies. The claim could not be immediately substantiated.

In a number of recent instances, the attackers have demanded a halt to the campaign of U.S. missile strikes aimed at militant leaders in the tribal areas. American intelligence officials have said the strikes are disrupting the leadership of militant groups operating along the Afghan frontier. But the raids, normally carried out by drones, also have aroused strong anti-government sentiment.