Shafaq News/ Iraq's top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, condemned the bomb attack that killed scores of Shiite Muslims in Pakistan, calling for taking the necessary precautions to protect the minorities from extremist groups.
Earlier today, a suicide bomb blast ripped through a crowded minority Shiite Muslim mosque in northwestern Pakistan, killing at least 30 worshipers and injuring more than 60 others.
The deadly attack occurred during afternoon prayers in a congested neighborhood in central Peshawar, the capital of northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Al-Sistani extended condolences to the families of the victims and wished a speedy recovery to those who were injured in the tragic incident.
"The school of Najaf and the Marja'iyah denounce this heinous crime that targets the Muslims' unity," a statement by his bureau said.
The religious leader urged the Pakistani government "to protect the religious minorities from the oppression and crimes of terrorist groups via the necessary measures and to hinder extremist and heartless groups from waging violent and atrocious attacks on their religious gatherings."
The leader of the Sadrist movement, Muqtada al-Sadr, urged the Pakistanis to "close ranks, distinguish between the moderate and extremist Sunnis, and demanded the Pakistani government to protect them from the terrorists."
"We, in Najaf, support you, moderate Shiites and Sunnis, everywhere all over the globe," he said, "the voice of liberation shall prevail everywhere."
