(Adds context)
By Hameedullah Khan
PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Feb 4 (Reuters) - - An explosion in a densely populated neighbourhood of Pakistan's volatile city of Peshawar killed at least seven people on Tuesday, hospital sources said.
The attack took place after dark in a neighbourhood dominated by the minority Shi'ite Muslim population which has come under increasing attack from hardline Sunni groups.
Hospital sources in Peshawar, a sprawling, dusty city on Pakistan's unstable frontier with Afghanistan, said several dozen people were wounded. It was unclear what caused the blast.
The loud explosion, which echoed around the city centre, came as the government is seeking to engage Pakistani Taliban militants in peace negotiations.
Any major assault on civilians or security forces claimed by the militants threatens to derail such the talks. Some radical Sunni splinter groups operate outside central Taliban control and the Taliban could distance itself from the attack. (Reporting by Hameedullah Khan; Writing by Maria Golovnina; Editing by Jon Boyle)
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