PARACHINAR, Pakistan (AP) — A local government official says gunmen have killed seven Shiite Muslims in an attack on a minibus in northwestern Pakistan.
Jameel-ur-Rehman says it was apparently a sectarian attack. The gunmen ambushed the bus in an area of the Kurram tribal region. The driver and six passengers were all Shiites.
No one claimed responsibility for Thursday’s attack.
Shiite Muslims are a minority in overwhelmingly Muslim Pakistan. While most Sunnis and Shiites live together peacefully, extremists from both sides have often targeted each other’s leaders and activists.
The Sunni-Shiite schism over the true heir to Islam’s Prophet Muhammad dates back to the seventh century.
