Car bomb kills 11 in Pakistan tribal region

[rama]

A car bomb went off in a market in the restive tribal belt of northwest Pakistan on Friday, killing at least 11 people and injuring over 30 others, police said.

The explosives-packed vehicle was detonated outside a mosque in a crowded market in Parachinar, the main town of Kurram tribal region, which has been rocked by sectarian violence over the past few years.

Witnesses said that several shops and vehicles were destroyed by the blast.

Most of the casualties were civilians, they said.

The injured were taken to a nearby hospital by local residents in private vehicles.

Security forces cordoned off the site of the attack and launched a search operation.

No group claimed responsibility for the attack.

Officials said the attack may be linked to sectarian tensions in the area.

Some reports said a suicide attacker was involved in the bombing but this could not immediately be confirmed.

Hundreds of people have died in clashes between rival Shia and Sunni tribesmen in Kurram Agency over the past four years.

The situation in the region was exacerbated after Taliban fighters began backing the Sunni tribesmen.

Car bomb kills 11 in Pakistan tribal region - World - DNA

rip to dead!!

 

[rama]

Suicide bomber kills 21 in NW Pakistan

(Reuters) - A suicide bomber detonated his explosive vest outside a mosque in a Shi'ite neighborhood Friday in the restive northwestern Kurram tribal region near the Afghanistan border, killing at least 21 people, local government and security officials said.

The bomber struck outside the mosque in a busy market in Parachinar, the main town in Kurram, after Friday prayers, in the latest attack by Sunni militants against minority Shi'ites.

"The bomber hurt many people. We have 21 bodies, and 10 of the wounded are in critical condition," Liaqat Bangash, a local emergency official told Reuters.

Fazal Saeed, leader of a breakaway faction of the Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility for the attack.

"We have targeted the Shi'ite community of Parachinar because they were involved in activities against us," he told Reuters by telephone from an undisclosed location.

"We also warn the political administration of Parachinar to stop siding with the Shi'ite community in all our disputes."

Shi'ite Muslims are a minority sect of Islam, arising from a dispute over the successor to the Prophet Mohammad 1,400 years ago. Many extreme Sunni Muslims consider them apostates.

Kurram, the only part of Pakistan's border region that has a significant Shi'ite population, has been racked by sectarian violence between Sunni and Shi'ite tribes. The Taliban and al Qaeda's virulent anti-Shi'ite ideology has meant years of bloody fighting.

Saeed, who follows this anti-Shi'ite school of thought, was part of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) but broke away last year after disputes with the umbrella militant group's leadership.

He is said to have close ties with the Haqqani militant group, one of the most feared factions of the Afghan Taliban.

The TTP, al Qaeda, and the Afghan Taliban movement fighting Western forces in Afghanistan are entrenched in Pakistan's northwestern tribal areas. All have been involved in anti-Shi'ite activities for years.

They continue to have strongholds in the region despite a series of military operations in the last few years.

Pakistan's army and air force have been conducting operations against militant groups in Kurram since the beginning of the year. Dozens have been killed in fierce fighting this month.

Last week, Pakistani military officials said 11 militants were killed and another 19 wounded when Pakistani artillery hit their hideouts in the Mamozai area of Kurram.

The death toll could not be independently verified and militants often dispute official accounts.

Exploratory peace talks between Pakistan and al Qaeda-linked Taliban have made little progress so far, and previous peace deals have failed to improve security.

(Additional reporting by Saud Mehsud in DERA ISMAIL KHAN and Jibran Ahmad in PESHAWAR; Writing by Qasim Nauman)

Suicide bomber kills 21 in NW Pakistan | Reuters

 

[Shivani Malhotra]

RIP to the dead.

 

[AbhimanyuShrivastav]

Thats 2 separate blasts ??

RIP