---
title: "Pakistani town in uproar after 40 Shi'ites gunned down in bus convoy"
description: "PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Nov 22 (Reuters) - Angry crowds gathered in the remote Pakistani mountain town of Parachinar on Friday, incensed by an attack on an escorted convoy of buses in which 40 Shi'ite Muslims died after being sprayed with automatic fire in an ambush."
type: "NewsArticle"
publisher: "Daily Maverick"
site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za"
section: "Violence"
author: "Reuters"
author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/reuters/"
canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2024-11-22-pakistani-town-in-uproar-after-40-shiites-gunned-down-in-bus-convoy/"
published: "2024-11-22T12:24:09"
updated: "2024-11-22T12:24:11"
lang: "en-ZA"
word_count: 275
---

# Pakistani town in uproar after 40 Shi'ites gunned down in bus convoy

> PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Nov 22 (Reuters) - Angry crowds gathered in the remote Pakistani mountain town of Parachinar on Friday, incensed by an attack on an escorted convoy of buses in which 40 Shi'ite Muslims died after being sprayed with automatic fire in an ambush.

By Reuters · Published 22 November 2024, 14:24 SAST · Updated 22 November 2024, 14:24 SAST

## Key points
- In a tragic twist worthy of a geopolitical thriller, Parachinar’s streets have turned into a battleground as Sunni and Shi'ite tensions erupt once more, leaving 40 dead, including women, while the town's markets and schools shutter in fear of the next act in this deadly drama.
- Parachinar district faces escalating violence between Sunni and Shi'ite communities, with recent attacks resulting in 40 deaths, including women.
- The Shi'ite minority is frequently targeted by Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan militants, who view them as heretics.
- Local authorities report a volatile situation, with markets and schools closed as residents react to the violence.
- Eyewitness accounts describe a convoy ambush, where armed attackers opened fire on vehicles, heightening fears in the region.

## Content

The Parachinar district, on Pakistan's northwestern border with Afghanistan, has frequently experienced violence between its Sunni and Shi'ite Muslim communities over land and power. Travellers to and from the town ride in convoys escorted by security officials.

The region's Shi'ites, who are in the minority in the predominantly Sunni Muslim nation of 241 million, have also been attacked by Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Sunni Islamist militants, who consider them heretics.

Local official Javedullah Mehsud said the death toll from the attack had risen to 40, including eight women, and that 29 people were being treated in hospital, nine of them in critical condition. He and a hospital medical officer said all the dead were Shi'ites.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Mehsud said two Sunnis had been killed in reprisal attacks.

All markets, education institutions, transport and other businesses in the town of Parachinar were closed, residents said.

A police officer who asked not to be named said hundreds of angry citizens had gathered in the main bazaar, and that the situation was highly volatile.

One of the wounded, Jamshed Hussain, said by phone from a hospital bed that he had been travelling in the convoy of around 100 vehicles accompanied by police.

He said some of those travelling in the convoy had stopped and attacked it, starting with the escort, spraying the vehicles with bullets from both sides.

"We don't know them but they were armed with rifles and they stopped the vehicles and started firing on the passengers from a close distance," Hussain said.

(Writing by Asif Shahzad; Additional reporting by Saud Mehsud in Dera Ismail Khan, Pakistan; Editing by Kevin Liffey)