Pakistan bombings kill at least 39

MULTAN, Pakistan – Two bombs exploded at a gathering of Sunni Muslim radicals in the central Pakistan city of Multan before dawn today, killing 39 people and wounding about 100, police said.

Police suspect a sectarian attack. The bombing comes less than a week after a suicide attack left 31 dead at a Shiite mosque in an eastern city.

About 3,000 people had gathered in a residential area of Multan to mark the first anniversary of the killing of the leader of the outlawed Sunni radical group, Sipah-e-Sahaba.

A car bomb exploded near the venue as people were starting to disperse after the overnight meeting, and two minutes later a second bomb attached to a motorcycle went off, deputy city police chief Arshad Hameed said.

Officials at the Nishtar government hospital said at least 39 people were killed and more than 100 people were wounded, about 50 seriously. Some 50 others were treated for minor injuries and later discharged. Other people had been taken to other clinics.

Hameed said the car blew up minutes after a man had parked it.

Witnesses said about 2,000 angry Sunnis gathered outside the Nishtar hospital after the bombings, shouting “Shiites are infidels!” Police said they were stepping up security in the city, which has suffered sectarian violence in the past.