PARACHINAR -- A suicide bomber detonated his explosive vest outside a mosque in a Shia neighborhood on Friday in Pakistan’s northwestern Kurram tribal region, killing at least 28 people and inuring 36, government officials said.  

 

Three more people were killed when police shot at protesters from the Shia community after the bombing in Parachinar, the main town in Kurram, an official said. A curfew was imposed in the town, Reuters reported.

 

The bomber struck outside the mosque in a busy market after Friday prayers, in the latest attack by militants against minority Shias.

 

According to one report, Fazal Saeed, leader of a breakaway faction of the Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility for the latest attack in Kurram, near the Afghan border.

 

Saeed was part of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) but broke away last year after disputes with the umbrella militant group’s leadership.

 

He is said to have close ties with the Haqqani militant group, one of the most feared factions of the Afghan Taliban.

 

The TTP, al Qaeda, and the Afghan Taliban movement all have been involved in anti-Shia activities for years.

 

They continue to have strongholds in the region despite a series of military operations in the last few years.

 

Pakistan’s army and air force have been conducting operations against militant groups in Kurram since the beginning of the year. Dozens have been killed in fierce fighting this month.

 

Zardari condemns bomb blast

 

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari strongly condemned the bomb blast. According to the Associated Press of Pakistan, Zardari said in a message the country was suffering the scourge of terrorism which he said needed to be eradicated at priority. He said the perpetrators of such heinous crime would not be spared. 

 

Chief Minister of Pakistani Punjab Province Shahbaz Sharif has also condemned the suicide attack in Parachinar and expressed his sympathies with the families of victims. 

 

Kurram, the only part of Pakistan’s border region that has a significant Shia population, has been racked by sectarian violence between Sunni and Shia tribes.