No less than 42 folks have been killed and 20 wounded when gunmen opened hearth on automobiles carrying Shia Muslims in Pakistan’s restive north-west, in one of many area’s deadliest such assaults in recent times, police stated.
The assault occurred in Kurram, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province the place sectarian clashes between majority Sunni Muslims and minority Shias have killed dozens of individuals in latest months.
Nobody instantly claimed accountability for the most recent assault, whose victims included six ladies. It got here every week after authorities reopened a key freeway within the area that had been closed for weeks after lethal clashes.
Native police official Azmat Ali stated a number of automobiles have been travelling in a convoy from town of Parachinar to Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, when gunmen opened hearth. He stated a minimum of 10 passengers have been in crucial situation at a hospital.
Aftab Alam, a provincial minister, stated 42 folks have been killed within the assault, and that officers have been investigating to find out who was behind it.
The inside minister, Mohsin Naqvi, known as the shootings a “terrorist assault”. The prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, and president, Asif Ali Zardari, condemned the assault, and Sharif stated these behind the killing of harmless civilians is not going to go unpunished.
Kurram resident Mir Hussain, 35, stated he noticed 4 gunmen emerge from a car and open hearth on buses and vehicles.
“I feel different folks have been additionally firing on the convoy of automobiles from close by open farm subject,” he stated. “The firing continued for about 40 minutes.” He stated he hid till the attackers fled.
“I heard cries of girls, and other people have been shouting for the assistance,” he stated.
Ibne Ali Bangash, a relative of one of many victims, described the convoy assault because the saddest day in Kurram’s historical past.
“Greater than 40 folks from our group have been martyred,” he stated. “It’s a shameful matter for the federal government.”
Baqir Haideri, an area Shia chief, denounced the assault and stated the loss of life toll was prone to rise. He accused native authorities of not offering ample safety for the convoy of greater than 100 automobiles regardless of fears of potential assaults by militants who had not too long ago threatened to focus on Shias in Kurram.
Store house owners in Parachinar introduced a strike on Friday in a protest concerning the assault.
Shia Muslims make up about 15% of the 240 million inhabitants of Sunni-majority Pakistan, which has a historical past of sectarian animosity between the communities.
Though the 2 teams usually dwell collectively peacefully, tensions have existed for many years in some areas, particularly in components of Kurram, the place Shias are the bulk.
Dozens of individuals from either side have been killed since July when a land dispute erupted in Kurram that later was widespread sectarian violence.
Pakistan is tackling violence within the north-west and south-west, the place militants and separatists typically goal police, troops and civilians. Violence within the north-west has been blamed on the Pakistani Taliban, a militant group that’s separate from Afghanistan’s Taliban however linked to them. Violence in south-western Balochistan province has been blamed on members of the outlawed Baloch Liberation Military.
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