Karachi: Unidentified gunmen on Friday killed seven Shia pilgrims in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province while seven people died in ethnic and sectarian violence in the country's financial capital in the last 24 hours.
The Shia pilgrims were killed at a bus stand in Saryab district of Balochistan's provincial capital Quetta in the afternoon, according to police officials.
"They were waiting for a bus preparing to go to Iran for a religious pilgrim when unidentified gunmen on motorcycles opened fire on them with automatic weapons. Four were killed on the spot while three died later at the hospital, senior police official Farid Baloch said.
The attack is the latest in a trend of violent incidents in the country's restive southwestern province which has been hit by sectarian killings and attacks by separatists on security forces and government officials.
Baloch said the attack was clearly sectarian in nature and the Shia Muslims were targeted in the capital of the oil- and gas-rich province that borders Iran and Afghanistan.
Most Pakistanis are Sunni Muslims, but the country has a significant Shia minority.
The United States for long has claimed that the province is a hotbed and safe house for many Taliban militants and commanders, a charge Pakistan government denies.
In Pakistan s biggest city, Karachi in the Sindh province seven more people died in target killings since last night.
Police said the men were killed in different areas of the city which has had a bloody month with nearly 200 killed in different outbreaks of violence.
The violence in the financial capital has been blamed on political, ethnic and criminal rivalries. It has been linked to the rivalry between the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), based among the Urdu-speaking majority, and the rival Awami National Party (ANP), which represents ethnic Pashtun migrants.
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