Pakistani 'Sunni militants' held

Gunmen on motorcycles killed seven Shias on a bus this month

Police in southern Pakistan have arrested four people suspected of a series of sectarian attacks, including a raid on a bus this month that left seven minority Shia Muslims dead.

The four belong to the banned Sunni Muslim extremist group, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, said inspector general of police for Sindh province, Kamal Shah.

Shahnawaz alias "Shan", Masrur ul-Haq, Mohammed Javed and Mohammed Shamim had confessed to firing on a bus carrying Shia worshippers in Karachi on 3 October, he said.

These men hate Shia Muslims Kamal Shah Sindh police inspector-general Pakistan's Shia-Sunni divide

Mr Shah said the men had carried out seven other attacks this year, including one that killed nine in February, and had been planning more.

"Shan" was captured during a raid on a house in Karachi early on Wednesday.

Police then arrested three alleged accomplices in a series of raids and found several assault rifles, hand grenades and explosives, Mr Shah said.

"These men hate Shia Muslims," he said. "So far we have not been able to find out whether they had ties with al-Qaeda."

Sectarian divide

Seven people died and seven were wounded when gunmen on two motorcycles opened fire on the Karachi bus.

The bus raid was the latest in a series of fatal attacks this year

The Shia worshippers on board were employees of the defence department research body, the Space and Upper Atmospheric Research Organisation.

On 22 February, nine Shias died and several other people were injured when at least three gunmen on motorcycles opened fire at the entrance of the Imam Bargha mosque in Karachi.

Pakistan's Shia and Sunni Muslims have suffered many attacks by extremist groups within their communities in recent years.

The worst attack this year came in July when about 50 Shia worshippers were killed in a mosque in the north-western city of Quetta.

Lashkar-e-Jhangvi said three of its suicide attackers carried out that raid.

Lashkar-e-Jhangvi was banned in August 2001 in a crackdown against sectarian militants and has been blamed for the deaths of hundreds of Shias in recent years.

Police in Lahore said on Wednesday they had also arrested two Lashkar-e-Jhangvi members, including a "key leader".