A suspected suicide bomber killed 23 people in an apparent sectarian attack in the compound of a hospital in north-western Pakistan today.
The bomb went off outside a hospital in Dera Ismail Khan, 280 kilometres southwest of Islamabad, as Shia Muslims were protesting against the killing of a leader. Gunmen shot the leader earlier and his body had been taken to the hospital.
North West Frontier Province police chief Naveed Malik Khan said 23 people had been killed in the blast, and up to 20 wounded. He said Sunni Muslim militants were believed responsible.
"This area has been hit by sectarian violence for many years and this is also a sectarian-related incident," Mr Khan said.
Most of the dead were protesters, a city official said.
Violence in northwest Pakistan is a major test for the coalition government now led by the party of murdered former prime minister Benazir Bhutto following the resignation yesterday of former army chief Pervez Musharraf as president.
Mr Musharraf oversaw security after he threw Pakistan's support behind the US-led campaign against terrorism. His departure has raised questions about the government's commitment, even though it has made security a priority.
Since July last year, Pakistan has suffered a wave of militant violence in which hundreds of people have been killed, including many security forces members.
Violence subsided after the coalition government came to power in March and opened talks with militants.
But the lull ended and militants stepped up attacks after their top leader, Baituallah Mehsud, suspended talks in June.
Police said today's attack was a result of sectarian rivalry between minority Shias and majority Sunnis. Shias make up about 15 per cent of Pakistan's population of 160 million people.
Separately, Pakistani security forces killed at least 20 Islamist militants in a clash in Bajaur tribal region, a known sanctuary for al-Qaeda and Taliban militants on the Afghan border, a government official said.
The fighting erupted about 25 km east of Khar, the main town in the region, last night after militants attacked several security checkposts.
"The exchange of fire lasted for about nine hours and we have reports that at least 20 militants were killed," Mohammad Jameel, a senior government official in Bajaur, told Reuters by telephone.
Heavy fighting began in Bajaur early this month when Pakistani Taliban militants attacked a security post. According to government estimates, about 170 people have been killed while about 100,000 villagers have fled the region.
Reuters