Daily dawn in Pakistan reports that three Pushtuns have been assassinated in Dera Ismail Khan, a city marred with sectarian violence. The three belonged to the majority Sunni sect of Islam. Two other Sunni Muslims were assassinated weeks earlier.
It appears that the Shias in Dera Ismail Khan are retaliating against suicide attacks by the Sunni extremists that killed dozens in the past year. This tit for tat killing bodes ill for Pakistan.
From dawn.com:
PESHAWAR: Three Sunni Muslims were killed on Thursday in a drive-by shooting in Dera Ismail Khan, police and hospital officials said.
Gunmen riding on a motorbike sprayed bullets on a medical store in Dera Ismail Khan, killing its owner and two relatives, a police official said, requesting anonymity.
Three other men were wounded, he said, adding that the victims came from the tribal South Waziristan district, bordering Afghanistan.
They were Sunni Muslims and members of militant leader Baitullah Mehsud's tribe, he said. 'We are investigating if it was sectarian violence or linked to a suicide attack on Mehsud's opponents earlier in the day.'
Ten people were killed when a suicide bomber blew himself up at an inn in Jandola, near South Waziristan region.
Confirming the casualties, doctor Ashiq Saleem, head of the local hospital, said that 'six people with bullet wounds were admitted, three of them died later.'
Dera Ismail Khanis a flashpoint for violence between militants from Shia and Sunni communities.
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