At least 29 people were killed and another seven injured when unidentified armed men opened fire on Shia pilgrims travelling to Iran on Tuesday. The Lashkar-e-Jhangvi claimed responsibility for the attack, saying such attacks would continue. The gunmen ordered pilgrims off their bus, lined them up and assassinated them in a hail of gunfire in Mastung, a district 50 kilometres south of Quetta.
The bus driver, Khushal, told reporters that armed men riding in two vehicles intercepted the bus near Ghunja Doori area in Mastung and asked the passengers to get off, adding that after lining them up, the assailants opened indiscriminate fire. Some of the passengers saved their lives by running away while the attackers reloaded their automatic rifles, he said, adding however that they did not harm the driver and cleaner and asked them to stay away.
Twenty of the passengers died on the spot while another 12 were seriously injured. Six of the injured later succumbed to their injuries at the district headquarter hospital. “The attackers then fled in their vehicles,” he said. An hour after the first attack, a group of relatives of the Ghunja Doori victims were attacked in the Akhtarabad area, in the outskirts of Quetta, when they were on their way to the scene of the killing. Two of them died instantly while two others were injured.
One of the injured later succumbed to his injuries in Bolan Medical Complex Hospital. Home and Tribal Affairs Secretary Naseebullah Bazai said the government normally provided security to pilgrims, but unfortunately the pilgrims and Shia organisations had not informed the Home Office about their movement. Mastung Deputy Commissioner Saeed Umran told Pakistan Today that the attackers were following the pilgrims’ bus from the outskirts of Quetta.
Meanwhile, Ali Sher Haideri, purported spokesman of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, called a number of newspapers and news agencies’ offices and claimed responsibility for the attack. He claimed that LJ activists would continue such attacks against the Shia community and threatened transporters and administration officials against providing services to the community. He said the LJ had accepted Karachi police official Chaudhry Aslam’s challenge and would “teach him a lesson”.
The members of Shia community staged a rally in Quetta to register their protest against the killings. The Balochistan Shia Ulema Council announced a weeklong mourning and demanded the government arrest the culprits. The Hazara Democratic Party and the Etahad Benul Muslimeen Balochistan also condemned the attacks and criticised the government for failing in its responsibility to protect the life and property of the citizens.
Several Shia organisations also announced a shutter-down strike today (Wednesday).
29 Shia pilgrims slain in Mastung
