Shiites traveling in a religious procession near Pakistan’s capital on Friday killed seven Sunnis from an Islamic seminary for insulting them as they passed, the police said. Thirty-two other people were wounded in the clash in Rawalpindi, said a hospital official, Mohammad Qasim. The Shiites dragged the Sunnis out of the seminary after hearing the shouted insults and killed them, said a police officer, Afzal Hussain. They also set several shops outside the seminary on fire, he said.
The police tried to stop the clash, but officers were wounded as the two sides threw stones at each other, Mr. Hussain said. An army unit based in Rawalpindi, which is near the capital, Islamabad, eventually reached the scene and took control. The Shiites were observing Ashura, which commemorates the seventh-century death of the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson. The schism between Sunnis and Shiites dates to that time. The holiday has been marred by violence in Pakistan in past years, including bombings of Shiite processions.
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