At least 20 people were killed and 49 injured on Saturday morning in a bomb blast at a vegetable market in Pakistan’s Parachinar city, Dawn reported. The Lashkar-i-Jhangvi al-Alami, along with Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, have claimed responsibility for the attack. Pakistan’s Interior Minister Chaudhary Nisar Ali Khan has demanded an inquiry into the explosion, according to Geo News.
The attack took place when a homemade bomb, which was planted in a pile of tomatoes, exploded in the market in Kurram region, situated near Afghanistan border, Reuters reported. The injured were evacuated and taken to the hospital in Army helicopters and the Frontier Corps’s Quick Reaction Force cordoned off the blast site. Many of those injured are said to be in critical condition.
Parachinar, a town where militants have been active, has suffered tension between Sunni and Shi’ite in the past. In December 2015, 25 people were killed in a similar blast in Parachinar, and Lashkar-i-Jhangvi Al Alami had claimed responsibility for the blast.
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