Gunmen kill four Shi'ite ethnic Hazara women in Quetta, Pakistan
| Publisher | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| Publication Date | 4 October 2016 |
| Cite as | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Gunmen kill four Shi'ite ethnic Hazara women in Quetta, Pakistan, 4 October 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5975a07513.html [accessed 26 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
October 04, 2016
Shi'ite Muslims hold candles during a vigil at the site of a bomb attack in Quetta in 2013. Shi'a have have been targeted previously by Sunni extremists in the Pakistani city. (file photo)
Gunmen on the outskirts of Quetta, Pakistan have killed four Shi'ite women from the ethnic Hazara minority after stopping a passenger bus that they were traveling on.
Another woman sustained serious gunshot wounds in what authorities described as sectarian-motivated killings.
Anwarul Haq Kakar, a spokesman for Balochistan's provincial government, said the attackers stopped the passenger bus on Quetta's Kirani Road on October 4 as it was returning to a neighborhood known as Hazara Town.
Kakar said one of the gunmen barged inside the bus and started shooting after identifying the women as ethnic Hazara.
Balochistan's Chief Minister Nawab Sanullah Khan Zehri condemned the attack and ordered an investigation into the mass murder.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
Shi'a have been targeted before by Sunni extremists in Quetta's Hazara Town.
In February 2013, 64 people were killed and more than 180 injured in Hazara Town by a bomb attack at a market on Kirani Road.
With additional reporting by The Express Tribune
Link to original story on RFE/RL website
