UNITED NATIONS - UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned Friday's terrorist attacks at the Chinese Consulate in Karachi and a market in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and called for those responsible be brought to justice. "The Secretary-General extends his deep condolences to the families of the victims and wishes a speedy recovery to those injured," the UN chief's spokesman said in a statement.

"He also sends his deepest sympathies to the Government and people of Pakistan," the statement said. "He hopes those responsible for the attacks will be swiftly brought to justice."</s>PESHAWAR, Pakistan — A suicide bomber on a motorcycle targeted shoppers in a remote part of northwest Pakistan, killing at least 25 people and injuring 20 others.

The attacker detonated his explosives in the town of Kalaya, senior local government official Abbas Khan told NBC News.

“People from nearby villages come to this this market town every Friday morning for shopping and to sell their products,” he said. “There was a huge gathering of local people when the suicide bomber riding a motorcycle entered and blew himself up.”

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

The blast occurred at around the same time that armed separatists stormed the Chinese Consulate in Pakistan's southern port city of Karachi.

Kalaya has a large population of Shiite Muslims, a minority in Pakistan that has been increasingly targeted by Sunni extremist groups such as the Islamic State and the Pakistani Taliban. Sunnis and non-Muslim Sikhs were also among the victims, according to Khan.

Government officials said that death toll could rise as some of the injured were listed in critical condition.

The district of Orakzai, where Kalaya is located, was for decades a refuge for Islamist militants fighting across the border in Afghanistan. More recently it has been a home for many who are battling against Pakistan's government.

Pakistani security forces increased operations along the border in 2009 and have cleared some areas of fighters.</s>Peshawar: At least 32 people, including three Pakistani-Sikhs, were killed and more than 40 others were injured on Friday when a suicide bomber triggered a powerful bomb blast at a busy market outside a religious seminary in the country's restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, police said.

According to the initial investigation, an improvised explosive device was planted in a bike that was used for transporting vegetables to the popular Friday Market (Juma Bazar) near an imambargah, a Shia religious place, in Orakzai tribal district's Kalaya area, bordering Afghanistan.

"This is a Friday bazaar, where hundreds of people had gathered for groceries," Deputy Commissioner Khalid Iqbal said. "The ground is then used for Friday prayers as well," he added.

At least 32 people were killed while more than 40 others injured, Dawn news quoted district administration officials as saying.

"Three Sikh traders and three children were also among the dead in the Orakzai blast," Iqbal told PTI.

The minority Sikh community in the area was previously displaced by the Taliban that controlled the region prior to the military operation in 2010, Samaa TV reported.

Officials said that most of the victims were minority Shia Muslims, who in the past were also targeted in the area. "Three children were among those killed. The remote-controlled bomb was attached to a motorcycle," officials said.

"I was buying vegetables at a distance from the bomb site," Karam Khan, who accompanied an injured person to the hospital in Kohat, said. "There was a huge explosion and I woke up with blood splashed all over the place and there were body parts everywhere," he said about the gory scene.

The area has been cordoned off and an investigation into the incident is underway. An emergency has been declared in the region's hospitals to handle the situation.

The explosion in lower Orakzai is the second terror attack in Pakistan on Friday.

Earlier on Friday, an attack targeting the Chinese consulate in Karachi's Clifton area was foiled by security forces. Four people, including two security personnel and two civilians, were killed in the attack. Three terrorists were also gunned down.

Prime Minister Imran Khan strongly condemned the terrorist attack in Orakzai tribal area and said: "My prayers go to the victims & their families".

"Let there be no doubt in anyone's mind that we will crush the terrorists, whatever it takes," he said in a tweet.

Human rights minister Shireen Mazari blamed the US failure in Afghanistan for the attack and warned Pakistan to be prepared for more such incidents. She condemned the horrific terror attack. "As the US fails in Afghanistan, Pakistan should be prepared for fallout and we must ensure greater security for our tribal areas especially protection of our people," she tweeted.

The attack was claimed by a separatist militant group from Pakistan's southwestern province of Balochistan, which is at the centre of a major Chinese investment project in the country. "We have carried out this attack and our action is continuing," the spokesman for the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), Geand Baloch, told AFP by telephone from an undisclosed location. The BLA is just one of the militant groups operating in Balochistan, Pakistan's largest and poorest province, which is rife with ethnic, sectarian and separatist insurgencies.

"Our enemies are not happy with peace in the province," provincial Chief Minister Mehmood Khan said while condemning the attack.

In 2011, 30 people including 10 cops, were killed and over 50 injured when a suicide bomber rammed his explosive-laden van into the building of the Communication and Works Department.

 Orakzai, a terror hotbed, is one of the seven semi-autonomous tribal regions of Pakistan which has a porus border with Afghanistan.</s>PESHAWAR: A powerful bomb blast ripped through a busy market outside a religious seminary in Pakistan’s restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Friday, killing at least 30 people and injuring over 40 others, officials said.

 The explosive material was planted in a bike in the Friday Market (Juma Bazar) near an imambargah, a Shia religious place, in Orakzai tribal district’s Kalaya area.

 People were buying warm clothes when the bomb went off, officials said.

At least 30 people were killed while more than 40 others injured, Geo news quoted district administration officials as saying.

 Officials said that most of the victims were minority Shia Muslims, who in the past were also targeted in the area.

 “Three children were among those killed. The remote-controlled bomb was attached to a motorcycle,” officials said.

 The area has been cordoned off and investigation into the incident is under way.

An emergency has been declared in the region’s hospitals to handle the situation.

 Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari blamed the US failure in Afghanistan for the attack and warned Pakistan to be prepared for more such incidents.

 Condemn the horrific terror attack in Orakzai tribal area.

 “As the US fails in Afghanistan, Pakistan should be prepared for fallout and we must ensure greater security for our tribal areas especially protection of our people,” she said tweets.

No group claimed responsibility of the attack but the Taliban militants often carry out such attacks.

 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police are on high alert following the Orakzai blast and a separate attack on the Chinese Consulate in Karachi on Friday morning.

 “Our enemies are not happy with peace in the province,” provincial Chief Minister Mehmood Khan said after the attack.

 It was the second attack on Friday as security forces foiled a bid by militants to enter the Chinese consulate in Karachi and killed three attackers.

 In 2011, 30 people including 10 cops, were killed and over 50 injured when a suicide bomber rammed his explosive-laden van into the building of the Communication and Works Department. PTI</s>PESHAWAR, Pakistan — A suicide bomber on a motorcycle targeted shoppers in a remote part of northwest Pakistan, killing at least 25 people and injuring 20 others.

The attacker detonated his explosives in the town of Kalaya, senior local government official Abbas Khan told NBC News.

“People from nearby villages come to this this market town every Friday morning for shopping and to sell their products,” he said. “There was a huge gathering of local people when the suicide bomber riding a motorcycle entered and blew himself up.”

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

The blast occurred at around the same time that armed separatists stormed the Chinese Consulate in Pakistan's southern port city of Karachi.

Kalaya has a large population of Shiite Muslims, a minority in Pakistan that has been increasingly targeted by Sunni extremist groups such as the Islamic State and the Pakistani Taliban. Sunnis and non-Muslim Sikhs were also among the victims, according to Khan.

Government officials said that death toll could rise as some of the injured were listed in critical condition.

The district of Orakzai, where Kalaya is located, was for decades a refuge for Islamist militants fighting across the border in Afghanistan. More recently it has been a home for many who are battling against Pakistan's government.

Pakistani security forces increased operations along the border in 2009 and have cleared some areas of fighters.</s>PESHAWAR: At least 31 people were killed and 50 wounded when a bomb hidden in a carton of vegetables ripped through a crowded marketplace in Pakistan's restive northwestern tribal region Friday (Nov 23), officials said.

"We are trying to ascertain the nature of the blast" in Kalaya, a town in Orakzai agency, senior local official Khalid Iqbal told AFP. A second official confirmed the toll.

"According to our initial investigation, it was an improvised explosive device hidden in a carton of vegetables," he said.



Orakzai is one of seven restive semi-autonomous tribal regions on the Afghan border, an area that has long been a focal point in the global war on terror.

Washington has insisted that the region provides safe havens to militants including the Afghan Taliban and Al Qaeda - an allegation that Islamabad denies.



The blast occurred around the same time as three attackers attempted to storm the Chinese Consulate in the southern port city of Karachi in an unrelated incident in which two police officials were killed. The Karachi attack was claimed by the ethnic insurgent Baloch Liberation Army. 



Pakistan has been battling Islamist groups in the tribal belt since 2004, after its army entered the region to search for Al-Qaeda fighters who had fled across the border following the US-led invasion of Afghanistan.

It has carried out multiple bloody military operations in the area, officially known as the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).

Earlier this year Pakistan passed legislation which paves the way for the tribal areas to be merged into neighbouring Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, bringing them into the political mainstream.</s>PESHAWAR, Pakistan — A suicide bomber on a motorcycle targeted shoppers in a remote part of northwest Pakistan, killing at least 25 people and injuring 20 others.

The attacker detonated his explosives in the town of Kalaya, senior local government official Abbas Khan told NBC News.

“People from nearby villages come to this this market town every Friday morning for shopping and to sell their products,” he said. “There was a huge gathering of local people when the suicide bomber riding a motorcycle entered and blew himself up.”

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

The blast occurred at around the same time that armed separatists stormed the Chinese Consulate in Pakistan's southern port city of Karachi.

Kalaya has a large population of Shiite Muslims, a minority in Pakistan that has been increasingly targeted by Sunni extremist groups such as the Islamic State and the Pakistani Taliban. Sunnis and non-Muslim Sikhs were also among the victims, according to Khan.

Government officials said that death toll could rise as some of the injured were listed in critical condition.

The district of Orakzai, where Kalaya is located, was for decades a refuge for Islamist militants fighting across the border in Afghanistan. More recently it has been a home for many who are battling against Pakistan's government.

Pakistani security forces increased operations along the border in 2009 and have cleared some areas of fighters.</s>At least 25 people were killed and more than 30 injured in an explosion in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Friday, Pakistan minister Shireen Mazari said. The blast took place outside a religious seminary in Hangu’s Lower Orakzai area, said unidentified security officials.

The wounded have been shifted to a hospital for treatment. The area has been cordoned off and an investigation is under way, Geo News reported.

Khyber Pakhtunkhawa Chief Minister Mehmood Khan condemned the attack, claiming that enemies had been unable to tolerate peace in the region, Dawn reported. “To target innocent citizens is inhumane,” he said. Khan also directed all hospitals to remain on high alert and to provide quality care to the wounded.

Mazari also condemned the attack, adding that the toll could rise. “As the US [United States] fails in Afghanistan, Pak shd [should] be prepared for fallout and we must ensure greater security for our tribal areas especially protection of our ppl [people],” Mazari said on Twitter.

Earlier on Friday, two police personnel were killed and one injured after gunmen opened fire outside the Chinese consulate in Karachi. Three to four men attempted to enter the consulate and fired upon being stopped by security guards.</s>A suicide bomb attack on a crowded festival and market in northwest Pakistan’s northwest killed at least 25 people Friday and wounded 20, a government official said.

The blast occurred around the same time that three attackers tried to storm the Chinese consulate in the southern city of Karachi. Two policemen and the three attackers were killed.

The Karachi attack was claimed by a separatist insurgent group called the Baluchistan Liberation Army, and did not appear to be connected to the attack on the market in the northwestern region of Orakzai.

In Orakzai, a suicide bomber drove a motorcycle into a crowd attending a festival and market that attracts people from different religious communities, before detonating his explosives.

“It was a suicide blast at the festival that takes place every Friday,” said Abbas Khan, the assistant commissioner of the district, told Reuters.

Khan said that among the 25 dead were three members of the minority Sikh community and two security officials.

The Geo television channel showed footage of military officials cordoning off the bomb site.

Orakzai was formerly a semi-autonomous part of Pakistan’s ethnic Pashtun tribal area along the Afghan border.

The region was for decades a refuge for Islamist militants fighting in Afghanistan, and more recently against the Pakistani state.

The Pakistani military stepped up operations along the border in 2009 and has managed to clear some areas of militants.

The tribal areas were incorporated into the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in May.</s>PESHAWAR: At least nine people were killed and 27 wounded when a blast ripped through a marketplace in Pakistan's restive northwestern tribal region Friday (Nov 23), officials said.

"We are trying to ascertain the nature of the blast" in Kalaya, a town in Orakzai agency, senior local official Khalid Iqbal told AFP. A second official confirmed the toll.

Orakzai is one of seven restive semi-autonomous tribal regions on the Afghan border, an area that has long been a focal point in the global war on terror.

Washington has insisted that the region provides safe havens to militants including the Afghan Taliban and Al Qaeda - an allegation that Islamabad denies.



The blast occurred around the same time as three attackers attempted to storm the Chinese Consulate in the southern port city of Karachi in an unrelated incident in which two police officials were killed. The Karachi attack was claimed by the ethnic insurgent Baloch Liberation Army. 



Pakistan has been battling Islamist groups in the tribal belt since 2004, after its army entered the region to search for Al-Qaeda fighters who had fled across the border following the US-led invasion of Afghanistan.

It has carried out multiple bloody military operations in the area, officially known as the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).

Earlier this year Pakistan passed legislation which paves the way for the tribal areas to be merged into neighbouring Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, bringing them into the political mainstream.
An explosion kills at least 35 people and wounds at least 55 at a market in Kalaya, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, northern Pakistan.