A mortar attack killed nine people, including women and children, in Hangu on Friday as Shia Muslims marked Ashura, police said. They were fired from the neighbouring district of Orakzai. "It was a sectarian attack. A total of four mortars were fired. The death toll is now nine," Gul Jamal, a local police official, told AFP. Six of those killed were Shias and three Sunni, police said. In Shikarpur district, police said they opened fire on a suicide bomber who tried to get into a rally.
"Police stopped a suspect who was trying to get into a Shia gathering where there were about 1,000 people," police official Asad Sarfaraz told the local television channel. "When police stopped him, he tried to run away. Police opened fire and he blew himself up. One police officer and two policemen were wounded. We have recovered parts of a leg," Sarfaraz added.