This Article is From Feb 04, 2014

Nine killed in blast in Pakistan's Shia-dominated area of Peshawar

Nine killed in blast in Pakistan's Shia-dominated area of Peshawar

Pakistani police officials and volunteers inspect the site of a suicide bomb blast at a bazaar in Peshawar on February 4, 2014.

Peshawar: At least nine persons, mostly Shias, were killed and 25 others injured in a suspected suicide attack in a hotel in the restive northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar today.

The blast occurred in the Shia-dominated Kocha Risaldar area of Peshawar, the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.

Most of the dead were Shias from Kurram tribal region, which has long been affected by sectarian violence.

Police officials said they suspected the blast was triggered by a suicide bomber.

Kocha Risaldar has many Imambargahs and Imambaras.

Earlier in the day, a prominent Shia leader was shot dead in the city in an apparent sectarian attack.

There has been a sharp rise in sectarian violence in Pakistan since a deadly clash between Sunnis and Shias in Rawalpindi in November.

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