Zeenews Bureau
Islamabad: The Pakistani Taliban on Wednesday attacked a bus packed with Shia Muslims, with a roadside bomb, killing fourteen, including two children in the country’s tribal belt.
The blast occurred in a semi-autonomous tribal region - Sepoy village of Orakzai Agency, officials said.
The militants used remote control to detonate the bomb while the bus was passing through the area.
A spokesman for a Pakistani Taliban faction based in Darra Adam Khel told the media that the bus was targeted because it was carrying members of the minority Shia community.
The bombing was the latest in a series of attacks on Shias across the country by the Taliban and other banned militant groups.
Seven persons were killed instantly and seven more succumbed to their injuries in a nearby hospital.
Two women, a three-year-old girl and an 11-year-old boy were among the dead.
Officials described the condition of the four injured persons as critical.
Security forces and a local `lashkar` or anti-Taliban militia launched a search operation after the blast.
With PTI inputs
