Taliban-linked gunmen kill 43 bus passengers in Karachi, Pakistan

Taliban-linked gunmen killed 43 Shiite passengers on a bus in Karachi

(Image credit: Sabir Mazhar/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

published 13 May 2015

On Wednesday, six gunmen stopped and boarded a bus in Karachi, Pakistan, and opened fire on the Ismaili Shiite passengers, killing 43 people, police officials said. The Taliban splinter group Jundullah claimed responsibility for the murders, with a purported spokesman saying it was because they were "kafir," or non-Muslim. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif condemned the attack, saying that the "terrorists have chosen a very peaceful and patriotic community to target in order to achieve their nefarious designs."

This was the latest attack by the Taliban and other Sunni militants on Pakistan's religious minorities, but attacks against the Ismailis are rare. Pakistan is about 70 percent Sunni and 20 percent Shiite. The Ismailis, like other Shiites, "revere Ali, son-in-law of the Prophet Mohammed," the BBC explains, "but they also revere the Imam Ismail who died in 765 AD."

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.