Riot Erupts at Pakistan Mosque; Blast Kills 13 Nearby

Security forces eventually moved in with armored personnel carriers and fired tear-gas canisters to disperse the crowd. As riot police surged toward the mosque, the crowd responded by swinging sticks and throwing rocks.

During a lull in the fighting, protesters began searching through the debris of the madrassa. Many emerged crying, holding scraps of letters written by students or bits of clothing. While the government has said civilian casualties during the commando raid were minimal, rumors persist that hundreds of women and children were killed.

"What happened to these people was bad," said one man, who clutched a bit of blood-tinged concrete. "It was an act of cruelty."

As he spoke, a man in plain clothes -- apparently a security official -- grabbed him by the waist and hustled him away.

At the same moment, around 5:15 p.m., a blast reverberated through the area as the suicide bomber detonated his charge at Aabpara Market, several hundred yards from the mosque. The bomber appeared to target police officers who were gathered outside the market as part of a security buildup.

Helmets blasted with holes and bloody khaki uniforms littered the ground around several shops destroyed in the explosion. Most of the dead were police; officers were also among the 61 wounded.

The explosion instantly gutted an entire row of shops and sent body parts flying into a parking lot across the street.

"It shook everything," said Abdul Jabar, 22, who was sleeping nearby at the time.

Ikram Khan, 27, had just purchased a bottle of shampoo from one of the shops. As he walked away, he heard and felt an explosion behind him. "A big flame shot out," he said. "Then I started running."

Security officials had already been on high alert when the bomber struck, and police later said they had had information that a bomber might strike in the market area. Officials said they would investigate whether the bomber had collaborated with the protesters at the mosque.

"It could have been a plan to create unrest at the mosque, and then cause maximum casualties among security officers," said the state information minister, Tariq Azim Khan.

Analysts said the fact that the bomber was able to get so close to a large group of police officers under supposedly tight security conditions indicated a major lapse.

"I'm really very concerned," said retired Lt. Gen. Talat Masood, a security analyst. "If the law and order agencies aren't better able to control the situation, it could mean we're drifting toward anarchy."

Special correspondent Shahzad Khurram contributed to this report.