World Bulletin / News Desk

A powerful bomb blast rocked a tribal town in Pakistan's northwest on Sunday, killing at least 23 people and injuring dozens more, local officials and state media have reported.

The blast occurred in a crowded market in Parachinar, the only predominantly Shia town in Pakistan’s sprawling tribal belt, which lies along the border with Afghanistan.

Following the explosion, local TV footage showed ambulances with sirens blaring rushing the dead and injured to nearby hospitals.

Body parts and blood-soaked clothing could be seen scattered around the blast site.

Army helicopters have since been deployed to carry a number of critically injured people to hospitals in Peshawar, located roughly 250 kilometers to the east.

The local Dawn television channel reported that an explosive device had been planted in a large oil tin outside a shop in the market.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast, but Pakistani security agencies believe it comes within the context of ongoing Sunni-Shia sectarian violence that has claimed thousands of lives across Pakistan over the last three decades. 

Pakistan is a Sunni-majority country in which Shia Muslims account for some 10 percent of the country’s 200-million strong population.

Some local observers accuse Saudi Arabia and Iran of financing hardline Sunni and Shia groups, respectively, operating in Pakistan.