More than 50 people have been killed in three separate attacks across Pakistan.

At least 40 people were killed in two explosions in the north-western Pakistan town of Parachinar.

The bombings, minutes apart, hit a crowded market in the Shiite-dominated city.

Dozens more have been injured, many of them critically, according to government official Shahid Khan.

Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, a sectarian Sunni extremist group, claimed to be behind the double attack.

Another 12 people were killed and 20 injured in a separate suicide attack in the south-western city of Quetta.

Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a breakaway faction of the Pakistani Taliban, claimed to be behind the attack.

Asad Mansoor, the militants' spokesman, vowed more attacks as part of the extremist group's campaign aimed at imposing Islamic laws in the country.

In a third attack in the country, gunmen in the port city of Karachi attacked police officers at a roadside restaurant and killed four before fleeing.

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif condemned the attacks, saying terrorists were attacking soft targets.