A suicide bomber rammed a tractor laden with explosives into a hospital in a town in northwest Pakistan today, killing at least 14 people, officials said, in what appeared to be a sectarian attack.
Officials said Shia Muslims were praying in a room inside the hospital when the bomb exploded in the town of Hangu.
Several police officials said the bomber drove the tractor into the hospital in Hangu. They said three policemen were among the dead. Sixteen people were wounded.
Pakistan's US-backed government faces Taliban insurgents who have sustained a campaign of suicide bombings in defiance of a series of military offensives launched last year against their strongholds in the northwest.
Pakistan has been bracing for sectarian violence during Moharram, the holiest month for Shia Muslims, which began on Wednesday. Sunni militant groups often attack Shia gatherings during this period.
There have been several sectarian attacks and clashes in Hangu in recent years.
On Wednesday, a suicide bomber blew himself up beside a minibus in the nearby town of Kohat, killing at least 16 people, officials said.
The Pakistani Taliban movement claimed responsibility for a twin suicide bombing on the office compound of a government official in the Mohmand region of the northwest on Monday, which killed at least 40 people.
Reuters