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.
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.
