16 shot dead in Pak mosque

The attack in Quresh Mor, some 300 km south of the provincial capital of Lahore, occurred as 100 Shia Muslim worshippers were finishing their morning prayers which marked the beginning of their day-long fast.

According to eyewitnesses, the attackers came on motorcycles, spraying the mosque with bullets as they sped past. There were apparently as many as four motorcycles, with two men on each motorcycle, they said.

People struggled to find transportation to get the wounded to the nearest hospital, which wouldhave been about 20km from Quresh Mor.

Police fear the attack is part of the relentless violence between rival Shia and Sunni Muslim sects that has killed hundreds of people in Pakistan, mostly in the Punjab province. Last year, over 300 people have been massacred in attacks between the rival sects.

The main combatants have been members of the Sunni Muslim militant group Sipah-e-Sahabah or Guardians of the Friends of the Prophet and the Shia Muslim organisation known as the Tehrik-e-Jaffria or Group for Shi’ite Muslim Law.

Following the attack, the Shia Muslim group said they had earlier sought protection from the government, but were ignored.

As Shia leaders arrived in Quresh Mor, they demanded that the government arrest the culprits and complained that the authorities were aware who had masterminded the attack but refused to take action. "The government knows who the killers are and they are roaming around freely," one leader told the media.

In recent months, the provincial Punjab government hasarrested many of the senior leaders of both groups in an attempt to stop the bloodletting between the two Islamic sects.

Most of Pakistan’s 140 million people are Sunni Muslims but sectarian violence has become a regular feature in Punjab and Karachi.