At least 18 people have been killed, and up to 100 more injured after a series of blasts in the Pakistani city of Lahore struck processions of Shia Muslims.

The blasts on Wednesday, suspected to be suicide bombings, hit three separate location as 35,000 Shias marched in a traditional mourning ceremony for the assassination of Ali, the Prophet Muhammad's nephew, some 1,300 years ago during the month of Ramadan.

"The three explosions took place at the end of a Shia mourning procession in Lahore city," AFP news agency quoted a police official as saying on Wednesday.

It was the latest in a long history of violence against Shias, which are frequently claimed by extremist and pro-Taliban groups, although the attacks had halted in recent weeks as the country struggles with some of its worst flooding in decades.

A mob set fire to a nearby police station after the attacks and beat police, apparently angry that they were not being protected by authorities.

Yousuf Raza Gilani, Pakistan's prime minister, condemned the blasts, saying in a statement that the attackers would not escape justice.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2010/09/201091161347982259.html