Pakistani city mourns 42 Shia Muslims who were ambushed, killed in gun attack

Protesters in Pakistan's northwest mourn 42 Shiite Muslims killed in ambush, sparking tensions and anti-government sentiment.

Protesters in Pakistan's restive northwest chanted anti-government slogans, and tensions flared Friday (November 22, 2024) after funeral prayers were held for 42 Shia Muslims who were ambushed and killed by gunmen a day earlier in one of the region's deadliest such assaults in recent years.

The victims were traveling in a convoy of several vehicles from the northwestern city of Parachinar to Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, when the attack took place Thursday (November 21, 2024). Those killed included six women, and 20 others were injured.

Survivors said the assailants emerged from a vehicle and sprayed the buses and cars with bullets. Nobody has claimed responsibility for the attack and police have not identified a motive.

Thursday’s (November 21, 2024) attack took place in Kurram, an area where Shia Muslims dominate. Sectarian clashes between the group and Pakistan’s majority Sunni Muslims have killed dozens of people in recent months.

Tribal elder Jalal Bangash said the bodies began arriving in the city Thursday (November 21, 2024) evening. The Shia community group Anjuman Hussainia Parachinar announced three days of mourning.

Coffins were draped in white cloth that bore red calligraphy. It read “Labbaik ya Hussein,” a Shia expression in remembrance of the 7th-century martyrdom of the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson, Hussein, that gave birth to their faith.

Locals carried the coffins aloft through Parachinar as people thronged the streets. Markets, shops, roads and schools were closed. Locals and relatives of the victims staged a sit-in, demanding action against the perpetrators.