An explosion at a shrine in northwest Pakistan has left three people dead and 26 others wounded, police said.

A bomb was planted on a bicycle near the shrine's main gate.  It exploded during a religious festival, said Muhammad Hussain, police chief of Nowshera district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

Many shrines have been attacked during religious festivals in Pakistan by a hardline sect that considers them non-Muslim activities.

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