Pakistan attack UPDATES: Gunmen opened fire on passenger vehicles in a tribal area in northwestern Pakistan on Thursday, killing at least 50 people and wounding 29, the chief secretary of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Nadeem Aslam Chaudhry, said. Among the fatalities in the attack, which occurred in the Kurram tribal district, were a woman and a child, Chaudhry said, adding: “It’s a major tragedy and the death toll is likely to rise." Earlier, the news agency reported the death toll as 38.
Tensions have existed for decades between armed Shia and Sunni Muslims over a land dispute in the tribal area that borders Afghanistan.
No group claimed responsibility for the incident.
Gunmen open fire at women and children
"There were two convoys of passenger vehicles, one carrying passengers from Peshawar to Parachinar and another from Parachinar to Peshawar, when armed men opened fire on them,” a local resident of Parachinar, Ziarat Hussain told news agency Reuters by telephone, adding that his relatives were travelling from Peshawar in the convoy.
President Asif Ali Zardari, in a statement, strongly condemned the attack on passenger vehicles.
Most of the victims belonged to the Shia community, they said. The vehicles were ambushed in areas dominated by the Taliban, a local journalist said. According to local media, there were over 200 vehicles in the convoy.
Condemnation
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur strongly condemned the attack and directed a delegation comprising the provincial law minister, lawmakers from the region, and the chief secretary to immediately visit Kurram to assess the situation and submit a report. He also instructed relevant authorities to work on establishing a Provincial Highways Police unit to secure all roads in the province.
Gandapur extended condolences to the bereaved families and announced financial assistance for the families of the victims. "Targeting innocent civilians is extremely tragic and condemnable.
Those involved in this incident will not escape the grip of the law," he said.
Shia and Shiite Muslims in Pakistan
Shiite Muslims make up about 15 per cent of the 240 million population of Sunni-majority Pakistan, which has a history of sectarian animosity between the two communities. Although they live together largely peacefully in the country, tensions have existed for decades in some areas, especially in parts of Kurram, where Shiites dominate.
Nearly 50 people from the two sides were also killed over a land dispute in July when clashes between Sunni and Shiites erupted in Kurram.
Pakistan is currently carrying out intelligence-based operations to tackle violence in the northwest and southwest, where militants and separatists often target police, troops and civilians. Most violence in these areas has been blamed on the Pakistani Taliban and the outlawed Baloch Liberation Army.
(With inputs from agency)
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