Five dead in Quetta sectarian attack

Gunmen Monday killed five people including three Shias in the latest sectarian attack on the religious minority in Quetta, police said. Two men on a motorbike attacked a vehicle carrying four Shia vegetable sellers as it left the provincial capital Quetta. "The local police escort the Shia vegetable sellers daily one of the vehicles today fell victim to sniper fire after it got separated from the rest of the escort," senior local police official Abdul Razzaq Cheema told AFP.
He said the gunmen killed three Shias from the Hazara ethnic minority as well as the van driver and a passer-by. One Shia vegetable seller suffered several bullet wounds but survived. Another senior local police official, Naseeb Ullah, confirmed the incident and casualties. Both officials described the incident as a sectarian attack on Hazaras. There was no immediate claim of responsibility but Taliban militants have targeted Hazaras in the past.