(ROUGH CUT ONLY - NO REPORTER NARRATION)<br/> <br />Thousands of Pakistani Shi'ite Muslims continued to protest in Quetta on Monday (February 18) near the bodies of those killed in a sectarian attack on Saturday (February 16).<br/> <br />The attack, near a street market in the south-western city of Quetta, highlighted the government's failure to crack down on militancy in nuclear-armed Pakistan just a few months before a general election is due.<br/> <br />The death toll climbed to 89 on Monday, said provincial health secretary Nasibullah Bazai.<br/> <br />Protests were held across all major cities in Pakistan.<br/> <br />While the Taliban and al Qaeda remain a major source of instability, Sunni extremists, who regard Shi'ites as non-Muslims, have emerged as another significant security threat.<br/> <br />In Quetta, some ethnic Shi'ite Hazaras are refusing to bury their dead until the army and security forces go after Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), the group which claimed responsibility for the latest bombing.<br/> <br />Around 4,000 men, women and children placed 71 bodies beside a Shi'ite place of worship. Muslim tradition requires that bodies are buried be soon as possible and leaving them above ground is a potent expression of grief and pain.
