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Militant attack leaves 43 Ismailis dead in Pakistan

Police cordon off the site of an attack by gunmen on a bus carrying Shia Muslim pilgrims in Karachi, Pakistan, on May 13, 2015. (© AP)

At least 43 people have been killed and tens of others wounded after unidentified armed men launched an attack on a bus carrying Muslim pilgrims in Pakistan's southern province of Sindh.

At least 43 people have been killed and 24 others wounded in an attack during which unidentified armed men launched an attack on a bus carrying  Ismaili Shias in Pakistan’s southern province of Sindh.

A senior police official, requesting anonymity, said the incident took place in the Safoora Chowk area of Karachi, located 1,146 kilometers (712 miles) east of the capital, Islamabad, on Wednesday, when a group of around eight assailants stopped the bus and opened indiscriminate fire on passengers.

Medical sources, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said among the victims were 25 men and 16 women.

Television networks on Tuesday carried pictures of a bullet-riddled pink bus.

 

Five of the injured victims succumbed to their wounds while en route to hospital. Some of the wounded people are reportedly in a critical condition, and the death toll is expected to rise, according to sources.

Tehreek-i-Taliban (TTP) has reportedly claimed responsibility for the attack.

On March 20, gunmen fatally shot religious leader Mazahir Naqvi, also known as Pyare Sahab, in the town of Gujranwala, located some 200 kilometers (120 miles) southeast of Islamabad. Naqvi died on the spot, and the assailants fled the scene.

A total of 22 people were also killed in a gun-and-bomb attack on a Shia mosque packed with worshipers in the northeastern city of Peshawar on February 13.

Pakistani security officials and volunteers collect evidence at a Shia Muslim mosque after it was attacked by Taliban militants in Peshawar, Pakistan, February 13, 2015. (© AFP)

 

More than 60 people were also wounded during the attack, for which the TTP terrorist network claimed responsibility.

Pakistani security officials gather at a Shia Muslim mosque after a bomb explosion in Shikarpur, Pakistan, January 30, 2015. (© AFP)

 

Also on January 30, another explosion hit a Shia mosque and religious center in southern Pakistan, killing 61 people who were performing Friday Prayers in Shikarpur district of Sindh Province. Jundallah militants claimed responsibility for the attack.

MP/HJL/HMV


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