Teen Suicide Bomber Kills at Least 10 in Pakistan

Jan. 25, 2011 — -- A teenage boy killed at least 10 people in a suicide attack at a security checkpoint in Pakistan today after he was stopped from entering a crowded Shiite procession, a police official said.

The boy, whose reported age has ranged from 14 to 18, was carrying a bag and attempted to join a large group of marchers in Lahore, Pakistan, when security officials at a checkpoint refused to let him through without being searched, Lahore police chief Aslam Tareen told ABC News.

Instead of submitting to the search, the boy threw the bag -- which turned out to be full of hand grenades -- at the policemen and then blew himself up, Tareen said. Most of those killed were policemen manning the checkpoint and dozens more were injured.

Police had set up three cordons to help secure the site of the procession which marked the 40th day of mourning of the martyrdom of Prophet Muhammad's grandson -- an occasion observed by Shiite Muslims.

The boy was stopped at the outer-most cordon.

"We should salute the police officials who laid down their lives but did not let the bomber in the procession," Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah told The Associated Press.

The face of the bomber has been recovered and sent for reconstruction, Tareen said. Afterwards, investigators hope to identify the attacker through the help of a national database.

Second Suicide Bomber Hits Pakistan

Tareen said police suspect Taliban and secretarian groups affiliated with the Taliban directed the attack.

Not long after, on the opposite end of the country, another suicide attack claimed three lives in Karachi. The bomber there was reportedly riding a motorcycle and carrying explosives in a bag.