On February 28, 2012, about 12 militants, dressed in military uniforms, stopped buses in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, hauled 18 men out and killed them. All, but one, of the victims were Shia Muslim residents of Gilgit-Baltistan who were travelling by bus from Rawalpindi, Punjab to Gilgit, Gilgit Baltistan. The buses were stopped in Kohistan and the victims killed based on their religious affiliation after identification. The dead included three children while 27 other passengers on the bus were spared.
Jundallah, a banned terrorist organization based in Pakistan, claimed responsibility for the attack. The attack was followed by mass protests by the Shia community of Pakistan wherein they demanded that perpetrators be caught and security be provided to the minority.
Religious extremism is prevalent in Pakistan. Members of the Shia community have been targeted in a number of attacks against the shias in the country. There have been several Incidents of killing of Shia Muslims and bomb blasts in the Shia mosque in Pakistan.
The Sunni extremist groups allied to or inspired by al-Qaeda and the Taliban routinely attack government and civilian targets in north-west Pakistan. They also attack the religious minorities and other Muslim sects that they consider to be infidels.
The Shias in Pakistan frequently complain that "the Pakistani state does little to stop the attacks and has even released from custody notorious militants accused of carrying them out."
The convoy of four buses were travelling from Rawalpindi, Punjab to Gilgit, Gilgit Baltistan. On a deserted section of the Karakoram Highway (KKH), in Kohistan (an area dominated by Sunni tribes), 10 to 12 gunmen in military uniform flagged the bus for stopping. After the bus halted, the gunmen climbed on board and asked passengers for identification. They checked the identity cards of all the passengers. After which the gunmen dragged a group of Shia men including three children off the bus. They were made to stand in a line by the roadside. Their hands were tied to their back and then sprayed with bullets from AK-47 Assault rifle.[3] After the shooting the gunmen resorted to aerial firing and moved to the nearby hilly areas.
Among those killed was also a Sunni Muslim named Nisar Ahmed, the bus conductor of one of the vehicles. He was killed along with the others when he failed to convince the gunmen that he was a Sunni Muslim. A police official, who had recorded statements from the surviving passengers, said Nisar was shot dead when he erred in answer regarding Fajr prayers.
At least 20 Shias pulled off bus, shot dead in northern Pakistan
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