Police say bomb blast at court kills 2, wounds 4 in northwest Pakistan

Police: Bomb kills 2, wounds 4 in Pakistan

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan — Police say a bomb has ripped through the parking area at a court in northwest Pakistan, killing two men guarding a Shiite Muslim lawyer and wounding four people.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack Wednesday in Dera Ismail Khan, but the city has witnessed both Taliban-related violence and sectarian fighting between Sunni and Shiite Muslims.

Police official Bawahal Khan says the lawyer, Mastan Khan, was wounded.

Minority Shiites and majority Sunnis generally live in peace in Pakistan, but extremists often target each other’s leaders and activists. The schism between Sunni and Shiite Muslims dates to the seventh century, centering on the debate over who should succeed Islam’s Prophet Muhammad.