Two blasts in the northwestern Pakistani town of Parachinar on Friday killed at least 15 people dead, a government official told Reuters, the second deadly bomb attack in the country of the day.

The blasts took place at a market within three minutes of each another, senior government official Wazir Khan Wazir said.

People were at the market buying food for iftar, the meal breaking the fast in the evening during the holy month of Ramadan. </s> Twin blasts tore through a market crowded with Eid shoppers in a mainly Shia town, a suicide bomber blew up his explosives-laden car and militants opened fire on police in separate attacks in Pakistan's three major cities today, killing 42 people and wounding 121 others.

The suicide bomber blew up his explosives-laden car near Inspector General of Police Ehsan Mehboob's office in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province, killing at least 13 people, including seven policemen, and wounding 21 others.

The blast was claimed by both the local affiliate of the Islamic State terror group and by Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (JuA), a splinter group of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan.

Thirteen people, including seven policemen, died in the suicide car bombing, officials said.

Hours later, two back-to-back blasts tore through a market crowded with the people shopping for Eid in the Shia- dominated Parachinar city in the Kurram tribal region, killing at least 25 people, mostly Shias, and injuring 100 others.

The first blast occurred during rush hour in Turi Market, where a bus terminal is also located. The second blast took place as rescuers and bystanders rushed to aid those who had been hurt in the first explosion.

Medical Superintendent of the District General Hospital, Parachinar, Sabir Hussain, said that at least 25 people are killed and over 100 others injured in the blasts. More than 20 of the injured were in critical condition.

No group claimed responsibility for the blasts. However, Sunni militant groups have claimed responsibility for several attacks in the area in the past.

In the evening, two armed men on a motorcycle, with their faces covered with helmets, opened fire on police officers at a roadside restaurant in Karachi and killed four of them.

An assistant sub-inspector was among those killed in the attack, said Superintendent of Police Asif Ahmad.

In Parachinar, officials said the blasts on the last Friday of the holy month of Ramazan targeted people shopping in the area and those heading out of the city ahead of Eid.

The emergency and rescue services shifted injured to Agency Headquarters hospital Parachinar. The security forces cordon off the entire area and started search operation.

Pakistan Army contingents and FC personnel reached the site of the attack to aid in rescue efforts.

"Two Army aviation helicopters have taken off from Peshawar to Parachinar for the speedy evacuation of the injured to Peshawar," the army said in a statement.

On March 31, a car bomb blast near an Imambargah of Shia Muslims killed 23 people and injured 70 others in Parachinar.

In January, 25 people were killed and 87 others when a bomb tore through a crowded vegetable market in the same city.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif condemned the attacks, saying that terrorists involved in the attacks will be taken to task and all out efforts will be taken to eliminate terrorism.

President Mamnoon Hussain, Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani, Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Governor Balochistan Muhammad Khan Achakzai and former president Asif Ali Zardari, among others, also condemned the attack.

Balochistan government spokesperson Anwarul Haq Kakar told Geo News that the suspected Quetta bomber tried to break a security perimeter to target the police offices but blew up after policemen standing guard attempted to stop him.

Of the injured, nine are said to be policemen.

DIG Quetta Abdul Razzaq Cheema, addressing the media, said they are examining CCTV footage to determine the details of the incident.

Officials said body parts of the suspected bomber, strewn across the site of the blast, were being collected along with other evidence for forensic examination.

An initial investigation report by Civil Defence Director Aslam Tareen revealed that 75 kilograms of explosives were used in the Quetta blast.

Footage of the incident showed two vehicles badly damaged in the explosion, while debris lay scattered on the street.

Officials said the explosion was loud enough to be heard from a distance and shattered windows of nearby buildings.

Earlier this year, on February 13, a blast took place near the Saryab Bridge in Quetta killing two personnel of the bomb disposal squad and leaving 11 injured.

Later in March, an explosion targeting a security forces convoy occurred on Saryab Road. Four people were injured including three Frontier Corps personnel and a passer-by.

In August, last year, a suicide bomber targeted the emergency services ward at Civil Hospital, following the death of the president of the Balochistan High Court Bar Association, killing at least 70 people and leaving many wounded. </s> A powerful car bomb exploded near a minority Shiite Muslim place of worship in the northwest town of Parachinar on Friday, killing at least 22 people and wounding over 70 others, officials said. Mushtaq Ghani, a spokesman for the provincial government, said the attack took place near Parachinar's Shiite mosque, which is located near the Noor Market.

Start the conversation, or Read more at The Now Newspaper. </s> Twin blasts tore through a market crowded with Eid shoppers in a mainly Shia town, a suicide bomber blew up his explosives-laden car and militants opened fire on police in separate attacks in Pakistan's three major cities today, killing 62 people and wounding nearly 100.

The suicide bomber blew up his explosives-laden car near Inspector General of Police Ehsan Mehboob's office in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province, killing at least 13 people, including seven policemen, and wounding 21 others.

The blast was claimed by both the local affiliate of the Islamic State terror group and by Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (JuA), a splinter group of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan.

Thirteen people, including seven policemen, died in the suicide car bombing, officials said.

Hours later, two back-to-back blasts tore through a market crowded with the people shopping for Eid in the Shia- dominated Parachinar city in the Kurram tribal region, killing at least 45 people, mostly Shias, and injuring 75 others.

The first blast occurred during rush hour in Turi Market, where a bus terminal is also located. The second blast took place as rescuers and bystanders rushed to aid those who had been hurt in the first explosion.

At least 45 people have been killed and 75 others injured in Parachinar, an official from the Parachinar administration told </s> Multiple blasts killed at least 26 people and wounded dozens in two Pakistani cities on the last Friday of Ramadan, Islam's holiest month, as officials warned the toll could rise.

Authorities said 13 people were killed and 124 wounded when twin blasts tore through a market in Parachinar, capital of Kurram district, a mainly Shiite area of Pakistan's tribal belt.

Local official Nasrullah Khan told AFP that the first blast detonated as the market was crowded with shoppers preparing for the Eid ul-Fitr festival marking the end of Ramadan.

"When people rushed to the site... to rescue the wounded, a second blast took place," he said, adding that he could not give further details of the attack but that officials fear the toll will increase.

Sabir Hussain, the medical superintendent at Parachinar's main hospital, said it had received 13 bodies and 124 wounded.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif called for security to be beefed up across the country as he condemned the attack, saying that no Muslim could ever imagine committing such a "horrific" act.

Pakistan has seen a dramatic improvement in security in the last two years, but groups such as the umbrella Pakistani Taliban and other extremist outfits still retain the ability to carry out attacks.

Local lawmaker Sajid Hussain Turi, the owner of the market, said bazaars in Parachinar had been barricaded off and vehicles banned from the area after multiple attacks have hit the city this year.

Parachinar was the location of the first major militant attack in Pakistan in 2017, a bomb in a market which killed 24 people in January and was claimed by the Pakistani Taliban. In March a second Taliban attack killed a further 22 people.

There was no immediate claim in Friday's attack.

Kurram, one of Pakistan's seven semi-autonomous tribal districts, is known for sectarian clashes between Sunnis and Shiites, who make up roughly 20 percent of Pakistan's population of 200 million.

The twin blasts in Parachinar followed a bombing earlier in the day in southwestern Quetta, capital of the insurgency-wracked Balochistan province, that killed at least 13 people.

Investigators said the attack targeted police. It was claimed by both the local affiliate of the Islamic State group and by Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (JuA), an offshoot of the Pakistani Taliban, according to the SITE monitoring group.

There was no immediate explanation for the dual claims. Islamic State Khorasan Province, the Middle Eastern group's affiliate in Afghanistan and Pakistan, has been known to work with the myriad of Pakistani militant groups in previous attacks, including with JuA.

Officials at the city's Civil Hospital said at least 13 people were killed and around 20 injured, mostly by shrapnel. Police officials said nine policemen were among the dead.

At the hospital in Quetta, worried children stood by the bloodstained cots of wounded relatives, and Pakistani soldiers visited injured colleagues.

Stunned survivors could give few details about the attack. "I was sitting on a chair. There was an explosion. I got injured and fell down," said one victim, Gulzar Ahmad.

Pakistan has waged a long war with militancy, but security has markedly improved in the country since its deadliest-ever terror attack, an assault on a school in northwestern Peshawar in which Taliban gunmen left more than 150 people dead, most of them children.

That attack shocked a country already grimly accustomed to atrocities, and prompted the military to intensify an operation in the tribal areas targeting militants.

The army has also been fighting in mineral-rich Balochistan, the country's most restive province, since 2004, with hundreds of soldiers and militants killed.

Its roughly seven million inhabitants have long complained they do not receive a fair share of its gas and mineral wealth, but a greater push by Pakistani authorities has reduced the violence considerably in recent years. </s> Pakistan bomb blasts: Two powerful blasts resulted in the death of 15 people while 70 others were injured in Pakistan’s northwestern town of Parachinar, according to Associated Press. According to the political administration, the blast reportedly took place near the Akbar Khan Market as quoted by Pak media. While the reason behind the blasts is still not known, security forces have rushed to the area and have started the rescue process. The injured have been rushed to the hospital. Wazir Khan Wazir, a senior government official told Reuters that the blasts took place at a market within three minutes of each another, according to a report by IE. People were there in the market buying food for iftar the meal breaking the fast in the evening during this holy month of Ramadan when the blast took place, the report further stated.

Earlier in the day, a suicide car bomber in southwestern Pakistan struck near the office of the provincial police chief resulting in the killing of at least 11 people and leaving 20 wounded, according to an AP report. </s> Peshawar - Multiple blasts and a gun attack killed more than 60 people and wounded at least 170 in three Pakistani cities on the last Friday of Ramadan, Islam's holiest month, as officials warned the toll could rise.

Authorities said 37 people were killed and more than 150 wounded when twin blasts tore through a market in Parachinar, capital of Kurram district, a mainly Shi'ite area of Pakistan's tribal belt.

Local official Nasrullah Khan said that the first blast detonated as the market was crowded with shoppers preparing for the Eid ul-Fitr festival marking the end of Ramadan.

"When people rushed to the site... to rescue the wounded, a second blast took place," he said.

Basir Khan Wazir, the top government official in Parachinar later said that apparently both the blasts were carried out by two suicide bombers.

"We have transported 15 injured to Peshawar but condition of 15 to 20 injured people were critical," Wazir said and warned that the death toll could rise.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif called for security to be beefed up across the country as he condemned the attack, saying that no Muslim could ever imagine committing such a "horrific" act.

Pakistan has seen a dramatic improvement in security in the last two years, but groups such as the umbrella Pakistani Taliban and other extremist outfits still retain the ability to carry out attacks.

Local lawmaker Sajid Hussain Turi, the owner of the market, said bazaars in Parachinar had been barricaded off and vehicles banned from the area after multiple attacks have hit the city this year.

Parachinar was the location of the first major militant attack in Pakistan in 2017, a bomb in a market which killed 24 people in January and was claimed by the Pakistani Taliban. In March a second Taliban attack killed a further 22 people.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Friday's attack.

Kurram, one of Pakistan's seven semi-autonomous tribal districts, is known for sectarian clashes between Sunnis and Shi'ites, who make up roughly 20% of Pakistan's population of 200 million.

The twin blasts in Parachinar followed a bombing earlier in the day in southwestern Quetta, capital of insurgency-wracked Balochistan province, that killed at least 13 people.

Investigators said the attack targeted police. It was claimed by both the local affiliate of the Islamic State group and by Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (JuA), an offshoot of the Pakistani Taliban, according to the SITE monitoring group.

There was no immediate explanation for the dual claims. Islamic State Khorasan Province, the Middle Eastern group's affiliate in Afghanistan and Pakistan, has been known to work with the myriad of Pakistani militant groups in previous attacks, including with JuA.

Officials at the city's Civil Hospital said at least 13 people were killed and around 20 injured, mostly by shrapnel. Police officials said nine policemen were among the dead. </s> Peshawar: A powerful explosion ripped through a crowded vegetable market in minority Shias dominated Parachinar in northwest Pakistan's restive Kurram tribal agency, killing at least 25 people and injuring 50 others.

The blast - claimed by Tehrik-i-Taliban - occurred at the market inside Eidgah Bazaar in Parachinar, the administrative headquarters of the agency near the Afghan border.

Citing the political administration in Kurram agency, Geo TV said that at least 25 people were killed in the blast.

However, in a brief statement the military said that 20 people have been killed in the attack.

Initial report suggests that explosives kept in a vegetable crate exploded during auction of the vegetables, officials said.

The injured were shifted to Parachinar headquarters hospital where there is a shortage of doctors and medical facilities. At least 10 patients were said to be in critical condition.

A statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said the improvised explosive device (IED) blast took place at 08:50 AM in the vegetable market.

"Army and FC Quick Response officials have reached the blast site and cordoned off the area. Army helicopters have been flown in for medical evacuation of the injured," it said.

Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan condemned the attack and ordered a detailed report regarding the incident.

Muttahida Majlis-e-Wahdat-e-Muslimeen, a Shia political organisation, announced three days of mourning over the blast.

According to officials, the death toll is expected to rise as the market was crowded due to early morning rush.

Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan spokesman Umer Khurasani has claimed responsibility for the blast. He said the blast was to avenge the killing of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi chief Asif Chotu.

Asif, who was on Pakistan's most wanted terrorist list and carried a bounty of Rs 3,000,000 on his head, was killed along with three aides in an encounter near Lahore on Tuesday.

He was directly involved in killing over 100 citizens of Pakistan in Punjab, Sindh, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. Indirectly, he was involved in killing of over 200 people.

LeJ was founded in 1996 as a militant offshoot of Sipah-i-Sahaba, a Sunni sectarian group that emerged in the mid-1980s. LeJ has claimed responsibility for the deaths of hundreds of civilians, mostly minority Shia Muslims.

Opposition Pakistan People's Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari condemned the blast and said that "in order to defeat terrorism people will have to support the PPP."

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman Imran Khan said that attack on unarmed civilians is not acceptable. "The terrorists should be tried and the victims be given justice," he said.

Parachinar has a sizeable Shia population and in the past the minority community was targeted through bombings.

In December 2015, a similar blast at the Eidgah Market killed 25 people and injured 70 others.

Kurram is one of the most sensitive tribal areas as it borders three Afghan provinces and at one point was one of the key routes for militant movement across the border. It has witnessed scores of attacks. </s> Blast kills at least 21 in Pakistan vegetable market, says official

PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Jan 21 (Reuters) - An explosion in a busy vegetable market killed at least 21 people on Saturday in Pakistan's remote northwestern tribal region, an official said.

About 40 others were wounded in the blast in Kurram region, near the border with Afghanistan, said Sajid Hussain Turi, member of the National Assembly from the region.

"We received 21 bodies of the local tribal people killed in the blast," Turi said, adding that there would be a mass funeral and then a demonstration over the attack.

Reports differed on the cause of the explosion.

Turi said a homemade bomb had been planted in a pile of tomatoes and exploded as people gathered in the market in Parachinar, Kurram's main town, early on Saturday morning.

Taliban militants have been active around Parachinar in the past, ad the town has also suffered sectarian tension between Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims.

Another Kurram official, Sabzali Khan, said early reports had suggested that a suicide bomber was responsible for the blast.

An eyewitness, Ashiq Hussain, said he saw bodies strewn around the market and wounded people crying out for help.

"There was no ambulance, and people had to carry the injured in cars and private pickup trucks to the hospital," Hussain told Reuters.

A statement from Pakistan's military said army helicopters had been dispatched to evacuate the wounded.
Multiple blasts occur at a market in Parachinar, killing at least 37 people and wounding over 150 more.