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Gunmen shoot dead 16 Shiites on road in Pakistan
Source: Agencies |
February 29, 2012, Wednesday
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Print Edition
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GUNMEN wearing military uniforms stopped a convoy of buses in northern Pakistan yesterday, ordered selected passengers to get off and then killed the 16 in an apparent sectarian attack, police and a lawmaker said.
The victims were Shiite Muslims, a minority in Pakistan frequently targeted by extremists from the majority Sunni community, said lawmaker Abdul Sattar. The gunmen spared several dozen other people in the four-bus convoy.
A spokesman for a faction of the Pakistani Taliban, a Sunni militant group, claimed responsibility for the killings.
The incident in the remote Kohistan region was the latest in a spasm of violence in the country in recent weeks. The United States has tried to support Pakistani security forces in the fight against the extremists, but relations are strained, hampering cooperation.
The attack took place in the mountainous village of Harban Nala, which is 340 kilometers north of the capital Islamabad. The area, part of the famed Silk Road linking Pakistan to China, is populated by Sunni tribes.
Police officer Mohammad Azhar said the buses were traveling from Rawalpindi city to Gilgit when the gunmen attacked.
Lawmaker Sattar said eight gunmen were involved, all wearing military uniforms. He said the attackers ordered the passengers to produce their identity cards before ordering the 16 off and shooting them.
Officials initially said 18 people had been killed and that one bus was involved.
Sattar and Sher Khan, an official at the Rawalpindi bus station, said the fear of attacks had increased after an incident last month in which an unknown number of Sunnis were killed in the Gilgit region.
Khan said buses have since been traveling in convoys.
The Jandullah faction of the Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility. "They were Shiite infidels and our mujahedeen shot them dead, one by one," said Ahmed Marwat, a purported commander.
The victims were Shiite Muslims, a minority in Pakistan frequently targeted by extremists from the majority Sunni community, said lawmaker Abdul Sattar. The gunmen spared several dozen other people in the four-bus convoy.
A spokesman for a faction of the Pakistani Taliban, a Sunni militant group, claimed responsibility for the killings.
The incident in the remote Kohistan region was the latest in a spasm of violence in the country in recent weeks. The United States has tried to support Pakistani security forces in the fight against the extremists, but relations are strained, hampering cooperation.
The attack took place in the mountainous village of Harban Nala, which is 340 kilometers north of the capital Islamabad. The area, part of the famed Silk Road linking Pakistan to China, is populated by Sunni tribes.
Police officer Mohammad Azhar said the buses were traveling from Rawalpindi city to Gilgit when the gunmen attacked.
Lawmaker Sattar said eight gunmen were involved, all wearing military uniforms. He said the attackers ordered the passengers to produce their identity cards before ordering the 16 off and shooting them.
Officials initially said 18 people had been killed and that one bus was involved.
Sattar and Sher Khan, an official at the Rawalpindi bus station, said the fear of attacks had increased after an incident last month in which an unknown number of Sunnis were killed in the Gilgit region.
Khan said buses have since been traveling in convoys.
The Jandullah faction of the Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility. "They were Shiite infidels and our mujahedeen shot them dead, one by one," said Ahmed Marwat, a purported commander.
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