The demonstration took place after a bomber on a motorcycle struck in a market in the northwestern town of Parachinar, killed 23 Shiite Muslims and wounding 50.
Local government administrator Wajid Ali said many of the 23 dead were shoppers or people with stalls in the market, he said.
After the attack, security forces fired on crowds protesting the attack, killing three people, said Ali.
A local Taliban commander, Fazal Saeed Haqqani, claimed responsibility for the attack in Parachinar, whose population is mostly Shiite. He justified the attack by saying that Shiites had been attacking Sunnis.
Parachinar and the nearby region of Kurram have been plagued by sectarian violence for several years. Shiites have been the overwhelming victims. |