At least 19 people were killed and dozens others were injured as a suicide bomber targeted a mosque in northwest Pakistan on Friday.

At least 19 people were killed and dozens others were injured as a suicide bomber targeted a mosque in northwest Pakistan on Friday.

The bomber detonated explosives packed into a motorcycle in a narrow lane containing both the Shiite and a Sunni Muslim mosque in the town of Hangu, long a flashpoint for sectarian violence.

"It was a suicide attack which targeted Shiites but Sunni Muslims also fell victim since their mosque and some shops were also very close to the site," district police chief Mian Muhammad Saeed told AFP.

"We have found the head of the bomber, who came there on a motorbike," he said, putting the death toll at 19 with 33 others wounded.

Hangu is close to Pakistan's semi-autonomous tribal belt on the Afghan border where Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked militants have carved out strongholds.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.