A suicide bomber killed 27 people and wounded 65 today in an attack on a funeral procession for a Shia Muslim shot dead a day earlier in a northwestern Pakistani city, officials said.
Sectarian violence between militant Sunni Muslims and Shia groups has plagued the town of Dera Ismail Khan on the western bank of the Indus river and close to the South Waziristan tribal region, where support runs deep for the Taliban and al-Qaeda.
Police said they had found the body parts of the suspected bomber. "It's a suicide blast. We have found the severed legs of the suspected bomber," said deputy superintendent Sanaullah, who had been part of the police escort for the procession.
Witnesses told police they had seen a motorcyclist drop off the bomber who then ran among the mourners before detonating the explosives strapped to his body.
Following the attack, locals vented their anger by torching vehicles and ransacking shops. Gunfire also broke out briefly. Authorities imposed a curfew and police and troops patrolled the town, which is 270 km southwest of the capital, Islamabad.
The majority of Pakistan's Muslims are Sunni, but about 15 per cent of the 170 million population are Shia.
Sectarian violence has flared up since last year as security analysts say al-Qaeda and Taliban militants, who are Sunni, have stirred up sectarian strife in order to expand their influence across the northwest.