Afghans bury 59 killed in bombings

Afghanistan: Afghans buried 59 people killed in unprecedented bombings against Shiite Muslims as officials blamed Pakistani militants, accusing them of trying to whip up Iraq-style sectarian violence.

Investigators are poring over who was behind the coordinated attacks in the Afghan capital Kabul and northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif that the Taliban, the main faction leading a 10-year insurgency, have denied carrying out.

An Afghan official claimed Wednesday that the bomber who attacked a shrine in Kabul was a Pakistani, affiliated to Pakistan's extremist Lashkar-i-Jhangvi group, which has been blamed for killing thousands of Pakistani Shiites.

The faction, which is linked to Al-Qaeda -- the terror group blamed for igniting sectarian war in Iraq -- has not previously claimed responsibility for any attacks in neighbouring Afghanistan.

Experts suggest that if Lashkar-i-Jhangvi or indeed any other Pakistani militants orchestrated the attacks, then elements in the Afghan Taliban may have played some part, possibly in facilitating the strikes.

Tuesday's blast on the holiest day in the Shiite calendar marked the first major attack on a key religious day in Afghanistan.

The twin blasts have prompted fears of a slide into sectarian violence in Afghanistan, which until now has avoided the kind of attacks that have pitched Shiite against Sunni Muslims in Iraq and Pakistan. AFP