Pakistani police hunt for clues after bomb

BOMB CLUES: Pakistani policemen remove the body of a colleague from a suicide attack site in Islamabad on July 6, near the Red Mosque rally. (AFP)

Pakistani investigators sifted through evidence on Monday in the wake of a suicide bombing that killed 19 people near a protest marking the anniversary of a bloody raid on the radical Red Mosque.

Police in white jumpsuits made fingertip searches through the night to find clues after Sunday's blast, which targeted a crowd of policemen guarding the rally by thousands of hardline Islamists in the Pakistani capital.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility but officials said they were examining a range of possible culprits, including the mosque's former students and Taliban militants based near the border with Afghanistan.

"At this stage it is too early to say who is behind it," interior secretary Kamal Shah told newswire AFP.

"We have assembled a team of senior policemen and officials from the [government's] Special Investigation Unit and they will meticulously probe this attack," Shah said.

The toll rose overnight to 14 policemen and five civilians, hospital and Islamabad administration officials said.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani visited injured police officials at one Islamabad hospital before leaving on a visit to Malaysia, while funerals were being held in the capital for the dead.

The White House, which counts Pakistan as a key ally in the "war on terror" launched after the 9/11 attacks on the United States, denounced the bombing as a "needless act of violence".

IN PICS: Red Mosque bombing
Arabian Business looks at the bloody aftermath of the attack against a crowd of police in Pakistan.

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