PESHAWAR (Pakistan) - A CAR bomb exploded on Friday near a busy market in one of Pakistan's lawless north-west tribal areas, killing at least six people and wounding 12 others, local officials said.

The blast in the mountainous Orakzai tribal district came as shoppers prepared for Eid celebrations, local government official Ahmad Ali told AFP.

'Six people were killed and 12 wounded in the blast,' a security official told AFP, adding that the bomb appeared to have been detonated remotely. Three people were killed instantly and three more died of their injuries in hospital.

The blast occurred in an area dominated by the minority Shi'ite Muslim community, the official said, indicating it could be linked to ongoing sectarian unrest in the region.

'The bomb was apparently planted in a car parked under a bridge adjoining the market and went off when the place was full of Shi'ite shoppers. It also destroyed several shops,' the official said.

Pakistan's army and paramilitary forces do not have a presence in Orakzai, where security is managed by tribal police. A local official said police had cordoned off the area and deployed reinforcements.

The attack is bound to increase communal tensions in the area, which has a history of bloody clashes between Shi'ites and Sunni radicals. Dozens have been killed on both sides in the past year.

Shi'ites account for about 20 per cent of Pakistan's 160 million-strong, Sunni-majority population.

There has been an increase in sectarian attacks in north-west Pakistan, which is already reeling from an unprecedented wave of violence linked to Taleban militants operating from bases along the border with Afghanistan.

Nearly 1,500 people have been killed since July 2007 in a wave of militant bombings across Pakistan. -- AFP