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Gunmen Kill 11 Shiites in Pakistan Sectarian Attack

Gunmen opened fire on a minibus carrying minority Shiite Muslims in southwestern Pakistan on Saturday, killing 11 of them in a sectarian attack, police said.

Two people were also wounded in the attack in Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province, senior police official Hamid Shakeel said.

The dead included one woman and two children.

Shakeel said the victims were heading to nearby Hazara town when the assailants ambushed the minibus before fleeing.

Pakistan has a history of sectarian violence. Although most majority Sunnis and Shiites live peacefully together, small extremist groups on both sides often target each other's leaders and activists.

The latest attack happened a day after gunmen killed seven passengers at a bus terminal near Quetta. The victims were non-Baluch and were waiting for a bus to travel to neighboring Iran.

Also Friday, a bomb exploded outside a football field in Mastung, south of Quetta, killing a nephew of the top elected government official in the province.

The attack happened as Mir Akmal Raeesani, the nephew of Nawab Mohammed Aslam Raeesani, was leaving after watching a football match.

Pakistan's prime minister and president both condemned the slaying of Raeesani.

Baluchistan is home to a small separatist movement that often targets Pakistanis from other parts of the country living there. Many non-Baluch have left as a result.

The separatists want a greater share of the money derived from the poor province's natural resources.

Source: Associated Press


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