At least 14 Shias were killed and more than 65 others injured when a high-intensity car bomb ripped through a busy road crossing in Parachinar, headquarters of Kurram Agency, on Monday.
Reports from Kurram Agency said the explosion was caused when an explosives-laden vehicle parked outside Turi Market in Kashmir Chowk was detonated.
The market and the crossing are famous for sale of poultry and are thronged by a large number of people. A Turi tribesman from the area told Pakistan Today on the telephone that the attack was a suicide car bombing.
However, authorities have made no claims so far, but local officials and eyewitness confirmed it was a car bombing. The massive explosion destroyed a number of shops in Turi Market. Tribesmen in Kurram Agency said the condition of many of the injured was precarious and the casualties could rise. Doctors at Agency Headquarter Hospital Parachinar have referred 30 critical patients to Peshawar. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Barrister Masud Kausar has directed authorities concerned for provision of helicopter services for rescue operations.
The tribesmen said 10 bodies had been shifted to a local Imambargah in Parachinar and a majority of bodies were beyond recognition. Around 56 injured were admitted to the agency hospital.
Soon after the explosion, all bazaars and business activities were shut down and roads blocked for traffic.
No one has claimed responsibility for the attack so far, but tribesmen believed Taliban to be behind the attack. Kurram Agency has been under a spell of unrest since long, but violence has worsened since 2007.
Parachinar and its sub division dominated are largely Shia inhabited areas, while Sunnis occupy and dominate the economically important Sadda region. Since 2007, a large number of Shias from this part of the tribal belt have been killed by Taliban, while roads connecting Parachinar with rest of the country have frequently remained closed for traffic.
As a result of the closure and threats to their lives, most of Shia people from Kurram Agency travel to other parts of the country via Afghanistan.
