Islamabad:
Another day, another blast; this time a suicide bomber attacked a crowded Shia mosque in Chakwal in Pakistan's Punjab province where a religious congregation was taking place. The damage was significant.
"The suicide bomber was trying to kill someone inside the mosque. Our security guards tried to stop him but the bomb exploded near the gate," a resident said.
Twenty Shia worshippers were killed in the attack by a teenage suicide bomber.
"There was a lot of commotion. People were confused and there was panic all around," another resident said.
The blast is the latest in a growing number of terror strikes in Pakistan's interior and its major cities. On Saturday night, a suicide bomber killed eight people near Islamabad's posh Jinnah market.
Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud claimed credit for a deadly attack on a police academy in Punjab's capital Lahore last week that left 12 people dead. He has vowed to carry out more attacks unless the US stopped drone missile strikes against militants near the Afghan border.
The drone attacks have continued, and a Mehsud deputy warned last week that militants would soon strike in Islamabad.