At least 15 people including a child were killed and dozens of others injured Monday in a powerful bomb blast in a mosque in Pakistan's restive port city of Karachi, according to Rizwan Edhi, a senior official of a relief group named the Edhi Foundation.  

This has been the second blast against Shiites in Karachi in less than one month. Twenty-two people were killed and more than 100 injured in an explosion at a mosque for Shiites early this month.

Witnesses said that an unidentified man planted a bomb in the mosque and it exploded when Shiites worshipers were performing evening prayers.

The blast created panic and people were seen fleeing from the area.

The injured were rushed to nearby hospitals. Some of them were stated to be in critical condition.

No one claimed responsibility for the blast. However, the police suspected that it could have a link to the assassination of a Sunni Muslim scholar.

Renowned religious scholar Mufti Zizamuddin Shamzai was killed Sunday in Karachi, which triggered wild violence across the city.

Prime Minister Zafarullah Jamali condemned the dastardly act of terrorism. Expressing his deep anguish, Jamali said the provincial government should move swiftly to control the current wave of terrorism in Karachi.

He said those responsible for these acts should be apprehended at the earliest and awarded exemplary punishment.

Jamali directed the Sindh provincial authorities to beef up security all over the city and every effort should be made to protect the life and property of the people.

(Xinhua News Agency June 1, 2004)