Seven volunteers of pro-govt militia killed in Pak

Islamabad: Seven members of a pro-government militia were abducted and killed by militants in northwest Pakistan while five persons were injured in an apparent sectarian attack when a bus was ambushed in the restive Kurram tribal region on Tuesday. Seven volunteers of an `Aman Lashkar` or pro-government militia were abducted and killed by militants in the troubled Khyber tribal region. Their bodies were dumped in Nari area of Khyber, state-run Radio Pakistan reported. No group claimed responsibility for the killings. In Kurram tribal region, militants fired indiscriminately at a bus and injured five persons. Officials of the political administration in the semi-autonomous tribal region said the bus was going from Parachinar, the main town in Kurram, to Peshawar, the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.

The injured passengers were taken to a nearby hospital. The Khasadar militia cordoned off the site of the attack and launched a search operation. Kurram has a large Shia population which has been targeted in the past by militants, including those from the banned Pakistani Taliban. PTI