Peshawar: Protesters in Pakistan’s restive northwest chanted anti-government slogans and tensions on flared Friday after funeral prayers were held for 42 Shiite Muslims who were ambushed and killed by gunmen a day earlier in one of the region’s deadliest such assaults in recent years. The victims were travelling in a convoy of several vehicles from the northwestern city of Parachinar to Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, when the attack took place Thursday. Those killed included six women and 20 others were injured.
Nobody claims responsibility
Survivors said the assailants emerged from a vehicle and sprayed the buses and cars with bullets. Nobody has claimed responsibility for the attack and police have not identified a motive. Thursday’s attack took place in Kurram, an area where Shiite Muslims dominate. Sectarian clashes between the group and Pakistan’s majority Sunni Muslims have killed dozens of people in recent months. Tribal elder Jalal Bangash said the bodies began arriving in the city Thursday evening. The Shiite community group Anjuman Hussainia Parachinar announced three days of mourning.
