Pakistan on high alert after border bloodshed

Pakistan was on high alert yesterday for the mourning processions of Ashura, a flashpoint for sectarian violence, a day after the country's deadliest bombing in more than a year killed 55 people.A suicide bomber struck at the main Pakistan-India border crossing on Sunday, causing carnage among crowds leaving the colourful daily ceremony to close the Wagah frontier post, near the eastern city of Lahore.The explosion, which wounded more than 120, was a rare attack in Punjab, Pakistan's richest and most populous province and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's powerbase.

At least two different factions of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) have claimed the attack, the first major strike since the army launched an offensive against militant strongholds in the tribal northwest in June.The Wagah ceremony is one of Pakistan's few genuine tourist attractions, drawing people from all walks of life.Security forces across the country were bracing yesterday for possible attacks as Shia Muslims mark Ashura, the anniversary of the death of Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Mohammed.Thousands of minority Shias will take to the streets for mourning processions and the occasion has been marred by sectarian bloodshed in recent years.

Around 10,000 police and paramilitary Rangers have been deployed in Islamabad and its twin city Rawalpindi, officials said, and some mobile phone services have been shut down.This is a tactic routinely deployed at sensitive times in Pakistan to try to stop militants using mobile phones to detonate bombs.Meanwhile, Pakistani border guards went ahead yesterday with a colourful ceremony at a major border post with India, defying a suicide attack on the event a day earlier.Indian soldiers also took part on their side of the frontier.An editorial in Dawn, Pakistan's leading English-language newspaper, speculated on a possible link to the ongoing anti-militant army operation in North Waziristan tribal area.People watching the ceremony may have been "deliberately targeted because of their perceived support for the security forces," Dawn said.

Pakistan has suffered years of bloody Islamist violence but even in a country inured to near-daily bombings, Sunday's strike has caused shock and revulsion.Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned the "shocking" attack, describing it as a "dastardly act of terrorism" and offering condolences to the bereaved families.Afghan President Ashraf Ghani also condemned the attack.