Angry protests in Quetta after 18 Shiites shot dead

Islamabad, Jul 30: At least 18 Shia Muslims, including a woman, have been gunned down by unidentified assailants in the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta, triggering strong protests by members of the minority community who torched vehicles and shops.

Gunmen shot dead 11 members of the Hazara Shia community who were headed to work in a pick-up vehicle, in a sectarian attack in the capital of Balochistan Province today.

With Saturday's killings, the toll in the violence targeting the minority community has risen to 18 since Friday.

According to media reports, a woman was among the 11 people killed today and four others were injured. The attack came a day after seven Shia devotees, who were heading to Iran to visit religious places, were killed by gunmen in Quetta.

The banned extremist group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi has claimed responsibility for Friday's attack.

A spokesman for the group, who was identified as Ali Sher Haidri, said the attack was in retaliation for the murder of Sunni scholar Maulvi Karim, who was killed in Quetta in a firing incident on Thursday.

After the attack, hundreds of Shia Muslims gathered on Barori Road in protest, chanting slogans against the government and the police for their failure to check sectarian killings.

The angry protesters also blocked the main road. They torched vehicles and shops outside a hospital, where several bodies of the slain persons were taken along and the injured persons admitted.

PTI