The death toll from twin bomb blasts in Karachi rose to seven on Wednesday as police said they suspected the attack was targeted at members of a minority Muslim sect. Two bombs detonated three minutes apart during Tuesday evening rush hour, tearing through the Pakistani financial capital’s crowded Hyderi Market, initially killing six people, including a young girl, and wounding 25. The death toll rose to seven on Wednesday as one of the wounded succumbed to her injuries during the night, top provincial health official Kamaluddin Shaikh told reporters. Senior police official Aslam Khan said investigators suspected the Bohra community was the target of the blasts, which could be heard several kilometres away, as they own many of the shops and houses in the area. “They are a peaceful community that live in tens of thousands in Karachi and mainly do business. We are investigating why they have been targeted,” he said. Bohras are an offshoot of the minority Shiite Muslim group, but regard themselves as quite distinct and follow different customs. Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city, is plagued by sectarian, ethnic and political violence, with at least 1,100 dying in attacks this year, but this is thought to be the first time Bohras have been successfully targeted. However, a police investigator speaking anonymously said officers foiled an attempted bombing in Hyderi Market just weeks earlier. “Just a month ago, we recovered a powerful bomb in the same area,” he said. “They are peaceful people and we are seriously investigating sectarian reasons behind the explosion.” “The community is reasonably afraid because of the attack, but we are intensifying security in the area.” Many of Pakistan’s Bohras – who number half a million, according to community leaders – are traders, and around half live in Karachi, running food, grocery and clothing businesses. “We are very peaceful people, such attacks have highly shaken our confidence. We are in a state of shock and the government will have to do a lot to restore our confidence,” Naveed Lotia, 42, a cloth merchant in Hyderi said.