Bomb Kills Two Sunni Muslims in Pakistan

A bomb explosion Tuesday killed at least two Sunni Muslim tribesmen and wounded two others in a restive Pakistani tribal region bordering Afghanistan, officials said.

The incident took place in Shiite-dominated Pewaar area of Kurram tribal region in what appeared to be a targeted sectarian killing.

"A vehicle hit a landmine in Pewaar leaving two Sunni Muslims dead and two others wounded," a local intelligence official told Agence France Presse.

He said the area had seen sectarian violence in the past and the bomb was planted on a route that Sunni Muslims use for transportation.

Another local intelligence official also confirmed the incident.

Kurram, which is one of the seven semi-autonomous tribal regions, has a history of sectarian clashes between Sunnis and the minority Shiite community.

There has been a rise in sectarian violence in Pakistan after several deadly clashes between Sunni and Shiite Muslim groups near the capital Islamabad in November.

A senior Shiite leader and his guard were killed in Karachi in early December.

Three days later, Shamsur Rehman Muawiya, chief of the Sunni extremist organisation Ahl-e-Sunnat Wal Jammat for Punjab province, was killed in Lahore.