JNN 18.07.10 Pro-Taliban militants have opened fire on a convoy in Pakistan’s restive northwest, killing 16 Shia Muslims and injuring several others.

According to Pakistani officials, the bus convoy was heading from Parachinar in Kurram Agency to the city of Peshawar.

“Sixteen people from the Shiite community have been killed and four were injured in the attack,” a senior security official said in Peshawar.

A Press TV correspondent reported on Saturday that those killed included several women and children.

Officials said some of those wounded were in critical condition.

The convoy came under attack as it was escorted by Pakistani security forces.

The road linking the region with Peshawar often remains closed for security concerns. Civilian convoys have repeatedly asked for the country’s security personnel to protect them.

Shia Muslims in Pakistan’s Kurram Agency have been facing a humanitarian crisis since November 2007 when pro-Taliban militants cut off the area from the rest of the country.

According to local sources, more than 2,000 Shia Muslims have been killed in the region since the start of the campaign by pro-Taliban and al-Qaeda-linked militants.

The extremist groups have launched a violent campaign against the Shia Muslims, and are stretching their campaign southwards.

Quetta, the capital of Pakistan’s restive Balochistan Province has witnessed several instances of violence against the Hazara Shia community in recent months.

Several Shia gatherings have also been targeted in the central province of Punjab over the past few months.

Shia sources say they make up one-third of Pakistan’s population of nearly 160 million. Since the 1980s, thousands of people have been killed in sectarian-related incidents in Pakistan