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Pashtuns, demanding safety, refuse to bury dead from Pakistan bus hijackings that killed 19

Associated Press
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A Pakistani looks the lifeless body of his relative, who was killed by gunmen when they hijacked two buses, as the bodies of victims are brought Quetta, Pakistan, Saturday May 30, 2015. Officials say Pakistani security forces have launched a major operation to hunt down gunmen who hijacked two buses and killed more than a dozen passengers in the country's southwest before fleeing. (AP Photo/Arshad Butt) (The Associated Press)

Pakistani police officers gather at the site of suicide bombing on a road leading to Gaddafi Stadium late night on Friday, May 29, 2015 in Lahore, Pakistan. A suicide bomber blew himself up Friday near a stadium in Lahore where a cricket match was underway between Pakistan and Zimbabwe, killing a police officer and wounding six, Pakistani Information Minister Pervez Rashid told a local news channel. (AP Photo) (The Associated Press)

Pakistani police officers gather at the site of suicide bombing on a road leading to Gaddafi Stadium late night on Friday, May 29, 2015 in Lahore, Pakistan. A suicide bomber blew himself up Friday near a stadium in Lahore where a cricket match was underway between Pakistan and Zimbabwe, killing a police officer and wounding six, Pakistani Information Minister Pervez Rashid told a local news channel. (AP Photo) (The Associated Press)

Hundreds of Pashtuns are protesting in Pakistan after deadly bus hijackings that killed 19 people, saying they refuse to bury their dead until the government offers them protection.

Demonstrators on Saturday placed 16 coffins with the bodies of their dead in front of the governor's house in the city of Quetta, the capital of Pakistan's restive Baluchistan province. The province was the scene of the bus hijackings Friday that saw gunmen kill 19 passengers and abduct 25.

Local Pashtun leader Allah Dad told The Associated Press on Saturday that survivors say the gunmen separated Pashtun passengers and made them stand in a line while allowing Baluch passengers to flee. Dad says the gunmen shot dead the Pashtun.

No group has claimed the attack, though separatists have carried out similar assaults.