Taliban takes blame as triple bombing kills 35

The blasts that targeted a Shiite procession were the first major

attacks since floods devastated Pakistan over the past month, destroying or damaging more than a million homes and prompting a major international relief effort.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik blamed the Taliban for the bombings. "The Taliban – to whom I call oppressors and infidels – are looking for the soft targets," he said, adding that the government was determined to crush militants and security forces were taking actions against them. At least 250 people were wounded in the attacks on a street procession marking the death anniversary of caliph Ali, one of Shiite Islam's most respected holy men. Two blasts were apparently suicide bombs.

Afterward, crowds set fire to a police station and vehicles. Authorities deployed paramilitary forces to restore order.

Sunni militants have launched dozens of attacks against Shiites and other Islamic sects and religions in Pakistan in recent years. The extremists believe it is permissible – even honourable – to kill members of other faiths.

Allied with al-Qaida and the Taliban, the militants are also seeking to destabilise Pakistan's US-backed government through such attacks.