At least 26 people were killed and more than 40 left injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up in Kurma Bazar of Parachinar, headquarters of Kurram Agency, on Friday. A strict curfew was imposed across the town after resident Shias resorted to protest following the incident. A Taliban faction led by Fazal Saeed claimed responsibility for the attack. “We have targeted the Shia community of Parachinar because they were involved in activities against us,” he told Reuters over telephone from an undisclosed location. “We also warn the political administration of Parachinar to stop siding with the Shia community in all our disputes.”
“We sent the suicide bomber following attacks on Sunni Muslims by Shia tribes in the area,” Saeed said. “We caught a man yesterday who was planting a bomb at a petrol station owned by a Sunni. We did it in response,” he added. Saeed was part of the Tehreek-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 Network. Per details, the suicide bomber blew himself up amidst a large crowd of people that was busy shopping in the bazaar following weekly Friday prayers. The marketplace is close to both a Shia imambargah and a mosque and it was, therefore, yet to be independently ascertained whether Shias or Sunnis were the target of the attack. More than 40 injured were admitted to agency headquarters hospital in Parachinar, while those critically injured were moved to hospitals in Peshawar. There were also reports that three of the deceased had been killed by police firing at protesters from Shia community following the bombing.
