13 killed when gunmen open fire on bus in Pakistan

4 October 2011 08:47 am

Thirteen people were killed when gunmen ambushed a passenger bus outside of Quetta, the capital of the southwestern Pakistani province of Balochistan, local police said.

All of the fatalities were Shia Muslims, Quetta Police official Ahsan Mehboob said. Many were shopkeepers and merchants going to their shops at a market outside Quetta.

Another eight people were injured, Mehboob said.

Police said the gunmen stopped the bus, walked in and opened fire on the victims.

Balochistan province has long been plagued by sectarian violence between Sunnis and Shiites.

Police suspect the victims were targeted because they were Shiites.

Angry rioters burned a bus at a hospital in Quetta where the injured were taken. (Source: CNN)