Sixteen Shia Muslims killed in ambush

Sixteen Shia Muslims were killed in an ambush in northwest Pakistan on Saturday. The victims were travelling to Peshawar in two vehicles when they were fired upon by militants armed with assault rifles, according to officials. The attack took place in the Sunni dominated Charkhel area on Tal-Parachinar road in the Kurram tribal district, close to the Afghan border. Four people were wounded. The gunmen flee the scene.

Photo: Tanveer Ahmad

“This took place in an area which is particularly hit by sectarian clashes,” says Peshawar correspondent Beroz Khan. “The Sunnis and the Shias, among the Muslims – they are fighting each other since three years.”

Kurram has been the scene of similar attacks, robberies and kidnappings over this period.

Meanwhile in Lahore six people were injured on Saturday when two bomb blasts hit the Pakistani cultural capital. The bombs were detonated seconds apart in two internet cafes in the Gari Shahu and Begum Kot neighbourhoods.