PESHAWAR: A Pakistani local government official says a roadside bombing has hit a minivan in the country’s northwestern tribal region, killing nine people.
Arif Khan, a tribal administration official in the town of Parachinar, says the blast ripped through the van as it was travelling through a minority Shiite region of the Kurram tribal area, which borders Afghanistan.
The area has long been the scene of sectarian violence.
The official says a woman and two children were among the nine killed. He says the explosion also wounded 13 people.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. Pakistani Taliban and other Sunni militant groups often target minority Shiites whom they consider to be heretics.
Pakistan has been fighting Islamic militants for over a decade.