At least 17 wounded in bomb explosion at market in Pakistan’s Parachinar city

The aftermath of an explosion in Pakistan's northwestern city of Parachinar on July 23, 2020. (Photo courtesy: social media)

• Police tell media explosion caused by improvised explosive device
• Bomb was fitted on a vegetable cart in a vegetable and fruit market

ISLAMABAD: At least 17 people have been injured in an explosion in the northwestern Pakistani town of Parachinar on Thursday, local Pakistani news channels reported.
Speaking to Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper, Parachinar deputy superintendent of police Najab Ali said the explosion was caused by an improvised explosive device fitted in a vegetable cart in a vegetable and fruit market called Turi Bazaar. 
District Headquarter Hospital Deputy Medical Superintendent Dr. Qaiser Abbas Bangash told media at least 17 people had been brought to the hospital with injuries, of whom two were in critical condition. 
Local television news networks broadcast images of a narrow street filled with smoke as people carried the wounded and ambulances blared in the background.
The crowded Turi Bazaar has been a frequent target of militant attacks in the past. Parachinar is the main town of the remote tribal region of Kurram, which borders Afghanistan. 
Parachinar has a long history of sectarian violence. The Shia population of the town, mostly belonging to the Turi tribe, has repeatedly been attacked by Taliban militants.