Ten dead in Islamabad blast

At least 10 people have been killed and 30 wounded in an apparent suicide bomb attack in the Pakistani capital Islamabad today…

At least 10 people have been killed and 30 wounded in an apparent suicide bomb attack in the Pakistani capital Islamabad today.

The death toll is expected to rise.

The attack targeted police guarding Islamists who were marking the anniversary of an army commando raid on the Red Mosque in the city.

The blast happened several hundred yards from the mosque, after a tightly guarded meeting of Islamists there had ended.

Worshippers could be seen streaming out of the mosque after the explosion. Sirens were heard across the city as ambulances raced towards the scene on what had been a quiet evening.

"Police were going back to their stations when it happened," said a police spokesman. "We picked up more than 10 bodies, there are also many wounded, most of them police. The primary target was our men."

Earlier on Sunday, several thousand Islamists vowed support for jihad, or Muslim holy war, as they gathered at the mosque to mark the first anniversary of an army raid on the complex.

More than 100 people were killed when commandos stormed the mosque complex, which included a madrasa or Islamic seminary, on July 10 last year, after a week-long siege that began when gunmen from the mosque clashed with police outside.

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Speakers told a crowd of several thousand, most of them men, that US ally President Pervez Musharraf was to blame for the bloodshed last year.

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