Islamabad, (IINA) : At least 21 people were killed and about 40 others wounded in an explosion on Saturday in a busy vegetable market in Pakistan’s Kurram tribal region, near the border with Afghanistan, an official said.

“We received 21 bodies of the local tribal people killed in the blast,” said Sajid Hussain Turi, member of the National Assembly from the region, adding that there would be a mass funeral and then a demonstration over the attack.

He said a homemade bomb had been planted in a pile of tomatoes and exploded as people gathered in the market in Parachinar, Kurram’s main town, early on Saturday morning.

Another Kurram official, Sabzali Khan, said early reports suggested that a suicide bomber was responsible for the blast.

An eyewitness, Ashiq Hussain, told Reuters that he saw bodies strewn around the market and wounded people crying out for help.