<p>In a brazen assault, gunmen donning police uniforms attacked a bus carrying Shia Ismaili community members and shot the passengers in the head, killing at least 47 people in Pakistan's southern port city of Karachi, the latest in a series of terror attacks targeting minorities.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Police officials said it appeared that six to eight assailants on motorbikes first opened fire on the bus just near the Dow Medical College and then entered the bus when it stopped at Safoora Chorangi, Gulistan-e-Johar area of Karachi.<br /><br />"It was a targeted attack," Sindh Police Inspector General Ghulam Haider Jamali told reporters.<br /><br />The attackers killed 47 people and wounded more than 20 others before fleeing from the scene.<br /><br />The death toll could further rise as some persons are seriously injured. The injured and dead were shifted to various hospitals by rescue workers.<br /><br />A senior police official said the attackers entered the bus and shot the passengers in the head.<br /><br />Nobody took the responsibility but the Taliban and groups like Lashkar-e-Jhangvi often carry out such attack.<br /><br />However, a pamphlet of terrorist group Islamic State was recovered from the scene, according to a police official but government has not so far named any group for the attack.<br /><br /></p>.<div>A rescue official quoted a victim as saying that the attackers were dressed in police uniforms.</div>.<div>A senior police official said the bus belonged to the Al-Azhar Garden welfare a non-profit organisation for the Ismaili community which provided them low cost housing just near the site of the attack and free transport service.<br /><br /></div>.<div>"Most of these people were going towards the city centre for jobs or were vendors or small traders," the official said.<br /><br /></div>.<div>Police and Rangers arrived at the scene and started manhunt. More than 60 people were on the board the bus.<br /><br /></div>.<div>Ismaili community is a branch of Shia Muslims and they are known for their progressive Islamic views.<br /><br /></div>.<div>President Mamnoon Hussain and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif have strongly condemned the terrorism incident. Sharif sought a report from the authorities on the incident.<br /><br /></div>.<div>The attack came a day after Sharif's Kabul visit where he said that enemies of Afghanistan are also enemies of Pakistan.<br /><br /></div>.<div>This is not the first time that the members of the Shia community have been targeted in Karachi.<br /><br /></div>.<div>In January, a suicide bomber blew himself up in a Shia mosque in Shikarpur in the Sindh province killing 61 worshippers and bystanders.</div>.<div>Jamali said initial investigations showed that the armed men used 9mm pistols in the massacre.<br /><br /></div>.<div>The Director-General of the ISPR tweeted that Army Chief General Raheel Sharif had cancelled a pre-schedule three-day visit to Sri Lanka because of the attack.</div>.<div>Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah termed it a "terrorist attack" and said the culprits will be arrested and justice will be done. He announced Rs 500,000 compensation for the dead and free treatment for the injured.</div>.<div>Pakistan People's Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan also strongly condemned the attack.</div>.<div>Pakistan has seen a rise in sectarian violence in recent years particularly against minority Shias who represent around 20 per cent of the country's Muslim population.</div>
<p>In a brazen assault, gunmen donning police uniforms attacked a bus carrying Shia Ismaili community members and shot the passengers in the head, killing at least 47 people in Pakistan's southern port city of Karachi, the latest in a series of terror attacks targeting minorities.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Police officials said it appeared that six to eight assailants on motorbikes first opened fire on the bus just near the Dow Medical College and then entered the bus when it stopped at Safoora Chorangi, Gulistan-e-Johar area of Karachi.<br /><br />"It was a targeted attack," Sindh Police Inspector General Ghulam Haider Jamali told reporters.<br /><br />The attackers killed 47 people and wounded more than 20 others before fleeing from the scene.<br /><br />The death toll could further rise as some persons are seriously injured. The injured and dead were shifted to various hospitals by rescue workers.<br /><br />A senior police official said the attackers entered the bus and shot the passengers in the head.<br /><br />Nobody took the responsibility but the Taliban and groups like Lashkar-e-Jhangvi often carry out such attack.<br /><br />However, a pamphlet of terrorist group Islamic State was recovered from the scene, according to a police official but government has not so far named any group for the attack.<br /><br /></p>.<div>A rescue official quoted a victim as saying that the attackers were dressed in police uniforms.</div>.<div>A senior police official said the bus belonged to the Al-Azhar Garden welfare a non-profit organisation for the Ismaili community which provided them low cost housing just near the site of the attack and free transport service.<br /><br /></div>.<div>"Most of these people were going towards the city centre for jobs or were vendors or small traders," the official said.<br /><br /></div>.<div>Police and Rangers arrived at the scene and started manhunt. More than 60 people were on the board the bus.<br /><br /></div>.<div>Ismaili community is a branch of Shia Muslims and they are known for their progressive Islamic views.<br /><br /></div>.<div>President Mamnoon Hussain and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif have strongly condemned the terrorism incident. Sharif sought a report from the authorities on the incident.<br /><br /></div>.<div>The attack came a day after Sharif's Kabul visit where he said that enemies of Afghanistan are also enemies of Pakistan.<br /><br /></div>.<div>This is not the first time that the members of the Shia community have been targeted in Karachi.<br /><br /></div>.<div>In January, a suicide bomber blew himself up in a Shia mosque in Shikarpur in the Sindh province killing 61 worshippers and bystanders.</div>.<div>Jamali said initial investigations showed that the armed men used 9mm pistols in the massacre.<br /><br /></div>.<div>The Director-General of the ISPR tweeted that Army Chief General Raheel Sharif had cancelled a pre-schedule three-day visit to Sri Lanka because of the attack.</div>.<div>Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah termed it a "terrorist attack" and said the culprits will be arrested and justice will be done. He announced Rs 500,000 compensation for the dead and free treatment for the injured.</div>.<div>Pakistan People's Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan also strongly condemned the attack.</div>.<div>Pakistan has seen a rise in sectarian violence in recent years particularly against minority Shias who represent around 20 per cent of the country's Muslim population.</div>