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Attack at north-western town of Parachinar near Afghan border leaves 23 Shia Muslims dead and 50 wounded, say officials
A suicide bomber on a motorcycle has struck at a market in a Pakistani town close to the Afghan border, killing 23 Shia Muslims and wounding a further 50 people, according to officials.
Local government administrator Wajid Ali said the attacker detonated a device in the north-western town of Parachinar.
Many of the 23 dead were shoppers or stallholders, he said.
After the attack, security forces fired at crowds protesting against the bombing, killing three people, said Ali.
A local Taliban commander, Fazal Saeed Haqqani, claimed responsibility for the attack in Parachinar, a mostly Shia town. He justified the attack by saying Shias had been attacking Sunnis.
Parachinar and the nearby region of Kurram have been plagued by sectarian violence for several years. Shia have been the overwhelming victims.
Pakistan has suffered hundreds of suicide attacks over the last five years, mostly by militants in the north-west close to the Afghan border who have given safe haven to al-Qaida operatives and insurgents fighting in Afghanistan. The army has responded with several offensives, but have had limited success in a country where extremists have significant support among the population.
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