Pakistan bus ambush in Kohistan 'kills 18'
Paris, February 28 (AZERTAC). Gunmen have opened fire on a bus in the northern Pakistani district of Kohistan, killing at least 18 people and injuring seven, officials say.
No group has yet said it carried out the attack.
The bus was travelling from the city of Rawalpindi to the northern town of Gilgit.
The mountainous Kohistan region is not known for militancy, but it borders the Swat valley, which had a significant Taliban presence in the past.
"Armed men hiding on both sides of the road attacked the bus," local police chief Mohammad Ilyas told the Agence France-Presse news agency.
The attack took place close to the remote and mountainous area of Harban Nala, approximately 130 miles (208 km) north of the capital, Islamabad.
It is unclear why the bus was targeted, but one report suggests that there may be a sectarian motive.
A police spokesman told Reuters news agency that all the victims were from the minority Shia community and that the bus was passing through an area dominated by Sunni tribes.
Correspondents say that more than two-thirds of Kohistan`s 500,000 people live a nomadic life and move up and down the country in search of pastures.
Kohistan is 7,400 sq km of sheer mountains, rising from 2,400m (7,874 ft) to 3,700m (12,139 ft) with virtually no plains.
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