Twin blasts outside Shiite mosques kill 35, injure 60

Twin blasts outside Shiite mosques kill 35, injure 60

PARACHINAR, Pakistan (Reuters) – Two explosions targeting Shi’ite mosques in Pakistan’s tribal area on the Afghan border killed at least 15 people on Friday, a doctor and witnesses said. The first explosion took place just meters away from a Shi’ite mosque near a busy market in Parachinar, capital of the tribal Kurram area. It was followed closely by a second blast, outside another mosque in the town. Sabir Hussain, a doctor at the Agency Headquarters Hospital, said 15 dead bodies and 45 people with serious wounds had been brought to his hospital. Taliban-linked insurgents are a main source of instability in nuclear-armed Pakistan, but sectarian violence by Sunni militants, who see Shi’ites as heretics, has also been growing. Parachinar has a significant Shi’ite population, who have previously been attacked by hardline Sunni militant groups.