Police say attacks on Pakistani minorities kill 44 death toll rising

Police say the death toll from a suicide bombing at a Shiite protest in southwest Pakistan has nearly doubled to at least 43. The attack Friday has sharply escalated the toll from a recent

string of sectarian assaults in a country already battered by massive flooding.

Quetta police chief Ghulam Shabir Sheikh says officers confirmed 43 deaths after a blast at a Shiite procession calling for solidarity with Palestinians. He said 78 people are wounded and

several are in critical condition. Earlier Friday, a suicide attack on a mosque belonging to the

minority Ahmadi sect killed at least one person and wounded several others in the northwest Pakistani town of Mardan.