Asia Muslims mark Eid as 52 die in Pakistan, Afghanistan

ISLAMABAD (AFP) - Muslims across Asia celebrated the Eid al-Fitr festival Thursday with lavish feasts and religious services, even as bomb attacks killed at least 52 people in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

A suicide bomber killed 38 people and wounded 50 others, most of them policemen attending the funeral of a colleague killed earlier in the day in Pakistan's southwestern city of Quetta, a day before the country officially marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadan with Eid.

A blast in eastern Afghanistan killed at least 14 as a group of women and youngsters gathered to mourn the late wife of a pro-government tribal leader as part of their Eid prayers.

Earlier, Afghan President Hamid Karzai appealed to the Taliban to resist control by foreigners and said the militants should support their own country.

"You are working for others, (foreign) guns are put on your shoulders, and innocent Afghan people are being killed by it, homes are destroyed," he said in his address marking the festival.

The explosion in Pakistan's restive Baluchistan province capped a bloody Ramadan for the country, where at least 11 attacks have killed more than 120 people.

There was more unrest in Thailand where police Thursday used water cannon to prevent scores of Muslim Rohingya boat people from Myanmar breaking out of a detention centre to celebrate the end of Ramadan, officials said.

Some 261 Rohingya asylum-seekers broke the locks on two rooms and then tried to storm the centre's secure front door in southern Phang Nga province, where many have been held for months, police told AFP.

A local official said the Rohingya men wanted to come out "for prayers for Hari Raya" -- as the festival of Eid, marking the end of the Muslim holy month, is known locally.

Thousands of Muslim Rohingya boat people -- including women and children -- have fled since Buddhist-Muslim clashes a year ago in the state of Rakhine in western Myanmar.

Elsewhere in Asia, Indonesia was among the first countries in the Islamic world to kick off Eid celebrations, but fears of fresh attacks at Buddhist sites prompted a security clampdown days after a temple bombing.

The past week has seen an exodus from cities in the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation, with people taking to cars, boats and planes to head home to their families across the archipelago of more than 17,000 islands.

While most Indonesians were celebrating, it was an anxious time for the country's minority Buddhists after an attack on a temple in Jakarta on Sunday.

One person was injured when a small bomb exploded at the Ekayana temple as hundreds were praying. The attack was apparently motivated by anger at the plight of the Rohingya in Buddhist-majority Myanmar.

"Buddhist temples are one of the key locations we are securing," national police spokesman Ronny Sompie told AFP.

Malaysia's Islamic authorities called for Muslims to strengthen the unity of the nation in the aftermath of controversial elections in May that saw the Muslim Malay ruling party retain its grip on power.

Prime Minister Najib Razak is expected to host up to 80,000 guests as he opens his official residence to celebrate the end of the fasting month.

Muslims in Australia were among those to celebrate Eid on Thursday, along with Malaysia and the Philippines.

Leaders of Australia's ruling Labor Party including Foreign Minister Bob Carr and members of the opposition addressed worshippers outside Sydney's Lakemba mosque, rallying support ahead of national polls on September 7.

Muslim communities in the Philippine capital Manila welcomed visitors into their homes to feast in keeping with tradition, and adorned local mosques.

In Beijing, Chinese Hui Muslims exchanged sweets and received blessings at the city's historic Nijuie Mosque, built in the 10th century.

Pakistan and India were among nations expected to start festivities on Friday.

Syed Ali Geelani, a top separatist leader in Indian-controlled Kashmir called for "peaceful protests" after special Eid prayers on Friday morning against "state terrorism".

Security forces are expected to be deployed in strength around prayer sites in Srinagar, the main city of the disputed Himalayan region, amid fresh tensions sparked by the killing of five Indian soldiers which New Delhi blamed on the Pakistan army.