2nd Update:
The death toll in the blasts rose to 35 on Thursday, with about 250 injured, government official Sajjad Bhutta said.
The bombs late Wednesday ripped through a Shiite Muslim street procession in the sprawling city of Lahore, which has been frequently targeted by Taliban terrorists over the last two years, often in coordinated attacks on religious minorities.
Anti-Islam Taliban have launched dozens of attacks against Shiites and other Islamic sects and religions in Pakistan in recent years.
Taliban extremists believe it is permissible -- even honorable -- to kill members of other faiths.
The bombs hit three separate sites as 35,000 Shiites marched through the streets of Lahore in a traditional mourning procession for the Imam Ali (AS), the first Shiite Imam.
The first blast was a smallish time bomb that exploded in the street near a well-known Shiite building.
Minutes later, a young-looking suicide bomber tried to force his way into an area where food was being prepared for the marchers to break the traditional Ramadan fast and blew himself up, said senior police officer Zulfiqar Hameed. Soon after, another suicide bomber detonated himself at an intersection near the end of the procession.
Senior Shiite leader Agha Syed Hamid Ali Shah Moosavi demanded more protection, but said his community would never stop organizing yearly processions for Ali.
"We can sacrifice our life, but can not allow mourning processions to end," he said.
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Terrorists Killed Dozens Shia Mourners in Pakistan 1th update
Three bombs went off in quick succession during a crowded mourning procession in the Karbla Game Shah area of Lahore on Wednesday, a Press TV correspondent reported. "The three explosions took place at the end of a Shia mourning procession in Lahore city," a local police official Shahid Qureshi told AFP. The Shia Muslims were marking the martyrdom of the first Shia Imam, Ali Ibn-Abi Taleb (PBUH). Medics say the death toll is expected to rise as some of the injured are said to be in critical condition. Despite being considered a stable and peaceful city, Lahore has seen several bomb attacks over the past couple of years. Pro-Taliban groups have launched a violent campaign against the Shia Muslims, and are stretching the campaign toward the so-called stable areas of Pakistan as well. Several Shia religious gatherings have been targeted in central province of Punjab over the past few months. Since the 1980s, thousands of people have been killed in sectarian-related incidents in Pakistan.
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