Balochistan: Shia Pilgrims bus attacked in Mastung, 26 martyred

20 September, 2011 13:06

Balochistan: Shia Pilgrims bus attacked in Mastung, 26 martyred

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Nasabi-Wahabi terrorists of Taliban and Laskhar-e-Jahngvi (LeJ) opened fire on a bus in the Mastung area of Balochistan, carrying passengers to Iran on Tuesday, martyred around 26 Shia pilgrims, police said.

â€œThe bus was travelling to the town of Taftan (Iran) when it was attacked,â€ a police official in Quetta, the provincial capital, told Reuters.The bus was carrying 60 Shia pilgrims in total and was attacked by Armed Taliban Wahabi terrorists from both sides.

There are fears the death toll yet rise further after the attack in Mastung, a district 50 kilometres (30 miles) south of Quetta, the capital of the Balochistan province, the local deputy commissioner Saeed Imrani told AFP.

â€œNasabi-Wahabi Armed men stopped, then opened fire on their bus,â€ Imrani told AFP identifying all the dead as Shia pilgrims. â€œThe death toll has risen to 26. At least six people were wounded, four of them are in a critical condtion,â€ he added, after earlier saying 26 had martyred.

Ambulances have reached the site. Locals and passengers are taking the wounded pilgrims to a nearby hospital in Quetta. The attack occurred near the western bypass near Quetta.The passenger coach, which was on its way from Quetta to Taftan, was carrying 50 passengers when it was attacked near the Akhtarabad area.

The assailants escaped after the attack. Police and other law-enforcement agencies took the bodies and the injured to the Bolan Medical College Hospital, sources at the hospital said.

Meanwhile, Majlis-e-Wehdat-ul-Muslameen, Jaffaria Alliance Pakistan and Shia Conference Balochistan have announced three days of mourning against the terrorist attack and demanded of the termination of the biased Balochistan Government.

Attacks on pilgrims are common in Quetta, where dozens of people have fallen prey to such attacks in recent times.On July 29 this year, at least seven pilgrims were killed in a similar attack on Saryab Road in Quetta