Pakistan: Pro-Taliban militants slaughter Shia

At least five Shia Muslim pilgrims have been killed in an attack against their bus in southwestern Pakistan’s Balochistan Province, Press TV reports. The incident took place on Tuesday, in Mastung district south of Balochistan’s capital Quetta. Officials say the bus, on its way towards Tuftan, caught on fire after it was targeted by a roadside bomb. Every year millions of Muslim pilgrims visit the holy shrines in the Iranian cities of Mashhad and Qom. The bus had been carrying nearly 40 passengers. Pakistan's pro-Taliban militants have launched a violent campaign against Shia Muslims over the past years. According to local sources, militants affiliated to Taliban and al-Qaeda terrorist groups have killed hundreds of Shia Muslims in the region since the start of the campaign. The country’s Shia leaders have called on the government to form a judicial commission to investigate the bloodshed. The killing of Shias in Pakistan has caused international outrage, with rights groups and regional countries, including Iran, expressing concern over the ongoing deadly violence.