A suicide bomber killed at least 50 people and injured more than 100 more on the Pakistani side of that country’s only border crossing with India.  Officials on both side of the contentious crossing immediately condemned it as an act of “terror”.

Large crowds of Indians and Pakistanis gather at the Wagah crossing every night to watch the ceremonial lowering of flags every night on their respective sides of the gate.  The ceremonies are coordinated for the crowd’s amusement.  An Indian security official said that the explosion did not affect that side of the border. 

But on the Pakistani side there was carnage.  Some reports put the death toll as high as 55 lives lost.  Wailing relatives crammed into makeshift morgues to claim the bodies of loved ones.  One doctor said he saw ten women and seven children among the dead, and eight members of a single family. 

A splinter group of the Pakistani Taliban called Jamatul Ahrar claimed responsibility for the attack.  The Taliban is Sunni – the attack coincided with the beginning of Ashura, a Shiite ten-day ritual commemorating the death of Imam Hussain, grandson of the prophet Muhammad.

The Wagah crossing is now closed for three days.