The death toll has risen to 40 in a deadly attack on a passenger bus in the Pakistani city of Parachinar. The fleet, guarded by security guards, was ambushed and opened fire with automatic weapons. Hundreds of people demonstrated on Friday (November 22) to protest the attack. British news agency Reuters reported this.
Local official Javedullah Mehsud said the death toll has risen to 40. Eight of them are women. Nine of the 29 injured are in critical condition. A doctor at the hospital and Mehsud both confirmed that the victims were all from the Shia community.
The region in northwestern Pakistan, bordering Afghanistan, has been a long-standing conflict between the Sunni and Shia communities. Members of the Shia community are a minority in a country of 240 million people. They are often attacked by the Sunni Islamist group Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). TTP considers Shias as heretics.
So far no one has claimed responsibility for the attack. However, Mehsud said that two Sunni Muslims were killed in the retaliatory attack.
The city of Parachinar has been paralyzed since the attack. Local residents said that markets, educational institutions, transport and other businesses are closed.
A police official, who did not want to be named, said hundreds of angry mobs had gathered in the main market. The situation is very heated.
Jamshed Hossain, one of the injured, said on the phone that they were traveling under police protection. Some of the fleet suddenly stopped and attacked. They started firing at the security guards first, then at the vehicles from both sides.
