Pakistan: Bomb blast in Parachinar kills at least 11, several injured

Highlights

• 1

  The explosion killed at least 11 people and wounded another 60.

• 2

  The blast appeared to target a women's mosque.

• 3

  No one has claimed responsibility for the attack yet.

A bomb blast rocked the city of Parachinar in Pakistan, killing at least 11 people and injuring scores more.

An emergency has been declared in all area hospitals after the explosion, which seem to target the northwestern Pakistsani city.

The city, located around 250 kilometers from Peshwar, falls in the Kurram Valley in the erstwhile North West Frontier Province area and borders Afghanistan.

The blast took place as people started gathering for Friday mosque near the entrance of a Shia mosque in central bazaar.

According to Al Jazeera, Kurram has seen a rising number of attacks in recent years and the Pakistan army has made it the target of several anti-insurgent operations. 

Sajid Hussain, a local politician, confirmed said the death toll from the explosion had reached 11, with 60 wounded.

"The attack took place in a busy area and a women's mosque appears to be the target," news wire Reuters quoted him as saying.

Hussain added that gunfire was heard in the lead up to the explosion and that the women's mosque seemed to be the target.

Authorities said a military rescue helicopter had been sent to the scene to help evacuate the injured.

Mumtaz Hussain, a doctor at the Agency Headquarters Hospital in the region, said five bodies, including a woman and two children, and more than three dozen wounded, had been brought to the hospital and an appeal for blood donors had been made.

The attack comes a month after over 80 people were killed and scores injured in suicide bomb attack at the  Lal Shahbaz Qalandar Sufi shrine in Sehwan, Sindh. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for that attack.

(With inputs from agencies)

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