AAJ TV Reports

Over 15 gunmen disguised in military uniform hauled 25 people off buses on Tuesday and shot them dead near Babusar taap, Kohistan region.

Police said the attackers flagged down four buses, climbed on board asking passengers for their identities, then dragged out the Shias and shot them.

Some other people were wounded in the attack.

“The motive behind the attack was to trigger sectarian violence in the country. The gunmen were wearing army uniform,” said officials.

The buses were on their way from Naran after Sehri. The remaining people were safely shifted to Gilgit Baltistan. However, they were not allowed to talk to media.

Earlier, several attacks had targeted a particular community in Kohistan district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and TTP and other banned outfits have claimed responsibilities for those attacks.

BBC Reports

As many as 25 Shia Muslims have been forced out of a bus and killed in a sectarian attack in northern Pakistan, officials have told the BBC.

The killings took place in a remote and mountainous area about 160km (100 miles) north of the capital Islamabad as the bus was travelling from the city of Rawalpindi to the city of Gilgit.

Sectarian violence has killed hundreds of Pakistanis in recent years.

Officials say that those killed in the latest attack were either shot or beheaded.

Shias and other minority communities say those behind the violence – such as the banned Sunni militant organisation Lashkar-e-Jhangvi – are rarely caught or punished.

Sunni extremists allied to or inspired by al-Qaeda and the Taliban routinely attack government and security targets in northern Pakistan, in addition to religious minorities and other Muslim sects they consider to be infidels.

The News Reports

At least twenty two people were killed while several others sustained injuries when three passenger buses were targeted in Naran on Thursday.

According to the DIG Gilgit, the passenger buses were travelling from Rawalpindi to Astor when they were attacked. The gunmen checked the identification cards of the passengers, made them get off the buses and then opened fire.

DIG Gilgit claimed that the incident took place in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa not in Gilgit-Baltistan.

Eyewitnesses told the police that at 7:00AM, approximately 10-15 armed men offloaded the passengers of the busses and killed them. The bodies of the deceased have been shifted to Manshera.

Police have launched an investigation in the incident and according to sources the Babusar road has been closed for an undefined time.

Express Tribune Reports

At least 16 passengers in four buses were forcefully disembarked and gunned down in the Dedi Das area as they were en route to Rawalpindi via Gilgit on Thursday.

The disputed territory between Chilas and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Dedi Das, is a far flung area and does not have mobile reception there. The area comes under the jurisdiction of the Naran police force.

According to initial reports, the passengers – all of them Sunnis – who belonged to Astore were forced to get off the buses and asked to show their identity cards, after which they were gunned down.

District Coordination Officer (DCO) Amber Ali Khan and District Police Officer (DPO) Sher Akber Khan when contacted by The Express Tribune refused to confirm the death toll and said that it could only be ascertained once they go to the attack site and come back.

ARY TV Reports

Fifteen passengers were killed and scores of others injured in a terrorist attack at two buses travelling from Rawalpindi to Astore on Thursday.

The gunmen attacked at Astore bound buses at Babusar area on Thursday, reports said. The passengers were forced to get off buses and asked to show their identity cards, after which they were gunned down. The injured and dead bodies were transferred to Astore and Gilgit hospitals.