The Baloch Hal News
MASTUNG: At least twenty-nine Shia pilgrims have been killed in what appeared to be a case of sectarian attack orchestrated by Sunni militant groups in Balochistan’s Mastung District, officials confirmed.
According Shah Nawaz, the Assistant Commissioner of Mastung, unidentified people fired shots at a passenger bus which was carrying Shia pilgrims to Iran. The attack resulted in the immediate killing of at least twenty-nine people. The attackers firstly opened fire at the bus but then entered inside the bus and killed more people.
The incident took place in Ganj Dori area of Mastung, authorities said.
Eyewitnesses told The Baloch Hal that the attackers also opened fire at the ambulances which were carrying the injured people to the hospital. Hence, three more people were killed in the attacks on the ambulences.
Most of the injured people have been shifted to Quetta for further medical treatment.
A Sunni militant group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), which has killed hundreds of followers of Shia Islam in the past, accepted responsibility for the attack. The LeJ wants to convert Pakistan into a complete Sunni state and has repeatedly warned Shias to leave Balochistan and Pakistan.
The BBC Urdu Service quoted Balochistan’s Home Minister Naseebullah Bazai as saying that the pilgrims had not informed the government of Balochistan about their trip. “Otherwise, the government does have a plan to safeguard the pilgrims,” he claimed.
Source,
Baloch Hal
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