At least 12 killed, dozens injured in Pakistan market bombing

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At least 10 people are dead and 50 others wounded in a blast in Pakistan's northwest tribal region of Parachinar, according to local media reports.
Pakistani men carry an injured blast victim after a bomb explosion at a market in Parachinar on Dec 13, 2015. PHOTO: AFP

PESHAWAR (AFP) - A bomb blast ripped through a crowded bazaar in a mainly Shi'ite area of Pakistan's northwestern tribal region on Sunday (Dec 13), killing at least 12 people and wounding dozens more, officials said.

The death toll was expected to rise after the explosion at the Eidgah used-clothes market in Parachinar city, the capital of Kurram tribal district on the border with Afghanistan.

"At least 12 have died and around 50 have been injured," said Amjad Ali Khan, the political administrator of Kurram.

Two senior police officials who requested anonymity confirmed the incident. "A bomb disposal squad has reached the spot and is trying to ascertain the nature of the the blast," one of them added.

Local television footage showed hundreds of male marketgoers fleeing the area, which was strewn with clothing and debris, as police tried to cordon off the location and ambulances rushed to the site.

A doctor at the district headquarters hospital, where the wounded were taken, told AFP most of the injured were in "critical condition" and said the death toll could increase.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but the region is known for sectarian clashes between Sunnis and Shi'ites, who make up roughly 20 per cent of Pakistan's population of 200 million.

Pakistan has been battling a homegrown Islamist insurgency since 2004 that has claimed the lives of tens of thousands of civilians and security forces personnel.

Overall levels of violence have decreased this year following a nationwide military-led offensive against Islamist extremists across the country, blocking their sources of movement, communication and funding.

There has also been a crackdown on Sunni extremist groups that target Shi'ites. In July, the leader of an anti-Shi'ite group behind some of Pakistan's worst sectarian atrocities was killed in a shoot-out with police, along with 13 other extremists.

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