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News ID: 38787
Publish Date : 25 April 2017 - 22:00

Roadside Bombing Kills 14 Shia Muslims in Pakistan




ISLAMABAD (Dispatches) – A roadside bomb targeting a bus has killed at least 14 people in a Shia-majority area in the northwestern Pakistani district of Kurram, local officials say.
The explosion occurred in central Kurram as the vehicle travelled to the town of Sadda, about 250km west of the capital Islamabad, early on Tuesday morning, Majidullah, a local administration official, told Al Jazeera.
"There were about 23 passengers in the van, and there was a bomb placed on the roadside near the village of Godar, he said.
"Security forces have now initiated a search operation in the area."
Officials said that at least five women and four children were among the 14 killed, and at least 10 people were wounded in the explosion.
Kurram lies along Pakistan's northwestern border with Afghanistan, and has seen a series of attacks in recent days, often targeting the district's sizeable Shia Muslim minority.
 Many of the injured were taken to hospital in the nearby town of Parachinar. The Pakistani military reportedly sent a helicopter to evacuate some of the wounded to the key northwestern city of Peshawar.
A spokesman for Jamaat-ur-Ahrar, a faction of the Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility for the deadly attack, saying the explosive device had been intended to target Shia Muslims.
Taliban militants have been active around Parachinar in the past and targeted Shia Muslims, who have been the subject of numerous attacks. In March, a bomb blast at a mosque killed more than 20 people in the Shia-majority town.
In January, a bomb planted in a busy vegetable market killed 21 Shias in the same town.
Data from the South Asia Terrorism Portal shows more than 2,600 Shia Muslims have been killed in militant attacks since 2002 across Pakistan. Shia advocacy groups, however, say the figures could be much higher.
Shias make up about one third of Pakistan's population of over 180 million.
Critics blame the Pakistani government and some elements within intelligence services for unwillingness to protect Shia Muslims and moderate Sunnis across the violence-wracked country.
International organizations and rights groups have urged the Pakistani government to take decisive action against the forces involved in the targeted killings.