MULTAN, Pakistan – Gunmen in paramilitary uniforms shot dead 12 people and wounded 26 others Monday in an attack police said was linked to a tribal feud in southern Pakistan.
One police officer and a government official were among the injured in the attack in the main bazaar of Kishmore, 250 miles west of the central city of Multan, police said.
The attack was carried out by about 35 suspected Bugti tribesmen in four 4-wheel-drive pickup trucks, said Agha Mohammed Tahir, the district police chief.
The attackers opened fire with assault rifles and machine guns at the family home of Ghulam Hussain Aisani, who belongs to the rival Aisani tribe.
They killed three of Aisani's men and kidnapped seven others who were sitting in the lawn of his home. Aisani himself had been arrested earlier and was in police custody for allegedly kidnapping four Bugti tribesmen one month ago, Tahir said.
One of the targeted victims was a brother of Aisani. The nine other fatalities were bystanders, as were all 26 wounded, Tahir said.
The attack apparently took Aisani's men by surprise since they did not return fire, said the police official.
A doctor in Kishmore's hospital confirmed receiving 12 bodies.
The attack was part of a long running feud between the Bugti and Aisani tribesmen, Tahir said. Police feared the killings would start a fresh round of violence between the two tribes.
Clashes between tribesmen are not uncommon in Pakistan's semiautonomous tribal regions where Pakistani security agencies have limited access and control.
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