Fourteen killed in Pakistan car bomb attack

An unknown militant group has claimed responsibility for a car bomb which killed 14 people in northwest Pakistan.

Dozens more were injured in the blast at a market in the town of Parachinar, close to the border with Afghanistan.

Officials say the blast damaged more than 200 shops and vehicles and went off when the market was crowded with customers.

The town is located in Kurram, one of seven autonomous tribal regions, where the Pakistani army recently launched an offensive against the Taliban and other Sunni militant groups.

The injured were taken to a local hospital.

One man said: “I was standing inside my shop with my back to the market. Suddenly there was a blast and it became dark as night. You couldn’t see anything. I don’t know what happened after that until I found myself in hospital.”

The group claimed the attack was aimed at the country’s Shi’ite minority and comes after several similar attacks by Sunni militant groups in recent months.

They regard Shi’ites as non Muslims.

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