PAKISTAN: Protesters burn bus after killing of at least 13

Record ID: 353576

  • Title: PAKISTAN: Protesters burn bus after killing of at least 13
  • Date: 5th October 2011
  • Summary: QUETTA, PAKISTAN (OCTOBER 4, 2011) (REUTERS) SCENE OF BUS ATTACK OBJECTS STREWN ON ROAD SCENE OF ATTACK ON BUS QUETTA, PAKISTAN (OCTOBER 4, 2011) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PEOPLE TRYING TO EXTINGUISH BURNING BUS OUTSIDE HOSPITAL POLICE OFFICERS WATCHING EXTERIOR OF HOSPITAL
  • Embargoed: 20th October 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Pakistan, Pakistan
  • Country: Pakistan
  • Topics: Crime
  • Reuters ID: LVA7VXRM0AT155RFSGHDTODEBLQK
  • Story Text: Family and relatives of people who were killed or wounded in a suspected sectarian attack on a bus in southwestern Pakistan on Tuesday (October 4) held small protests and torched a bus in anger.
    The bus was used to ferry the dead and wounded to hospital, according to Geo TV, a private Pakistani television channel.
    At least 13 people have been killed in a suspected sectarian attack on a bus in Pakistan's southwestern Baluchistan province carrying mostly Shi'ite Muslims from the Hazara community.
    The attack on Tuesday (October 4) was the second such assault in just over two weeks.
    Police said the attackers arrived in a pickup truck and intercepted the bus on the outskirts of Quetta, the provincial capital.
    Police said four or five gunmen entered the bus, opened fire, then fled.
    Ten of the victims died on the spot. Three more died later in hospital. Another five people were wounded.
    One of the survivors told Reuters from hospital that two men who were already on board the bus ordered the driver to stop and began shooting.
    About 20 people in total were travelling on the bus when the attack happened.
    No one has claimed responsibility for Tuesday's attack. A similar assault on September 20 killed at least 26 Shi'ite pilgrims in Mastung district who were travelling to Iran.
    But Sunni Muslim militants loyal to al Qaeda and the Taliban often target member of Pakistan's Shi'ite minority and have stepped up attacks in recent months.
    Pakistan has witnessed a surge in violence since the killing of Osama bin Laden by U.S. special forces, for which militants have vowed revenge.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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