Gunmen Kill Two At Pakistani Protest Rally

A soldier keeps watch during a curfew in Rawalpindi on November 16. The curfew was imposed after deadly clashes erupted there last week.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan -- Two people have been killed in northwestern Pakistan after gunmen opened fire at a rally called to protest sectarian clashes that erupted last week.

The shooting happened in the city of Kohat, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, while Sunni activists were demonstrating against violence in the city of Rawalpindi, near the capital of Islamabad, on November 15.

The Sunni activists were approaching a Shi'ite mosque on November 18 when the gunmen opened fire, killing at least two people and wounding three others.

Police said that the Sunnis fired bullets into the air in response.

Police later cordoned off the area and a curfew was imposed.

The November 15 clashes in Rawalpindi, which left nine people dead, erupted when a procession of Shi'a faithful was passing near a Sunni mosque.

Authorities imposed a curfew in Rawalpindi, which was only lifted on the morning of November 18.


With reporting by AFP