NEW DELHI, February 16 (RIA Novosti) – At least 63 people were killed and some 200 injured as a bomb exploded in Pakistan’s southwest city of Quetta on Saturday, the Dawn News TV channel reported.

The explosion occurred as dozens were shopping at a crowded market in a Shiite-dominated neighborhood, local officials said.

“It was a sectarian attack, the Shiite community was the target,” a senior police officer told the TV channel.

“The dead include women and children. The explosion completely destroyed a two-storey building,” the Dawn quoted the local police chief as saying.

For years Sunni Muslim extremist groups have targeted Shiites in Pakistan. In early January, 92 people were killed and more than 120 injured in twin suicide bomb blasts in Quetta.