Baying mob watches dogs fight to the death in barbaric tournament in Pakistan
These horrific images show a baying mob forming a human ring for a dog fighting tournament outside a Pakistan village.
Covered in blood and limping from their injuries, the specially-trained dogs tear into each other as their owners urge them on.
The animals are pulled apart from each other and then thrown back together as spectators goad them into a frenzy, before one eventually emerges the winner.
https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2011/03/4.jpg One dog leaps into the air as they tear into each other before a crowd of villagers in north-western Pakistan
https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2011/03/5.jpg Bloodied: The two animals, with visible wounds, grapple with each other as the crowd urges them on
The gathering took place outside the village of Lora in Abbottabad District, north-western Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province yesterday afternoon.
Dog fighting and other forms of animal fighting are common in rural areas of Pakistan, where some 70 per cent of the population of 167million reside.
The tournament took place on the same day ten people were killed when two bombs exploded among a crowd of villagers watching a dog fight in Afghanistan.
The explosions went off in the Arghandab district, on the outskirts of Kandahar city, where Nato and Afghan forces have been working to push out Taliban and establish order.
Though dog fights are against the law in Afghanistan, they are still common and often ignored by the authorities.
In this case, however, police had heard about the fight and had just arrived to break it up when a bomb exploded. Another blast went off as security forces got out of their vehicle.
https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2011/03/6.jpg Barbaric: Hundreds of people line the hillside near the dog fighting tournament as the animals are separated and then thrown back together
https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2011/03/7.jpg Training: Two owners watch as their dogs attack each other. Dog fighting is extremely popular in rural Pakistan
https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2011/03/8.jpg Victorious: This dog won the tournament, but many of the animals suffer crippling injuries and most fights are to the death
Five policemen were wounded but none killed.
It was unclear who the target of the attack was, though a witness said it was unlikely that it was the police.
'The Taliban also don't allow dog fighting,' said Ismail Alokozai, who was in the area during the first blast and helped some of the wounded. 'This was not the first time that there was a bombing at a dog fight. It is probably the fourth time.'
He said he saw several bodies laid out and estimated that there were about 10 dead.
The previous day, four people were killed in the north-west of the country when a suicide bomber detonated his explosive vest at a sports field.
About 2,000 people had gathered for a game of buzkashi, a traditional Afghan sport in which players on horseback wrangle for a headless goat carcass.
In February 2008, a suicide bombing killed more than 100 people gathered at a dog fight.
https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2011/03/9.jpg Owners and a tournament organiser separate two dogs during a fight, before they are thrown back together
https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2011/03/10.jpg Targeted: Two bomb blasts killed 10 people during a dog fight in southern Afghanistan on Sunday. The Taliban banned the blood sport
