Gunmen shot and killed four Hindus who were legally selling liquor in this deeply religious southwest corner of Islamic Pakistan, police said Sunday.
The gunmen rode on a motorbike up to the victims' store in Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province, late on Saturday spraying the area with bullets. When the shooting stopped four Hindu men lay dead, another was wounded along with a Muslim.
While liquor is illegal for Muslims in this overwhelmingly Islamic nation, licenses to sell liquor are available. But alcohol can be sold only to non-Muslims. Roughly 5 percent of Pakistan's 140 million people are non-Muslims.
Police said they were investigating the shooting and suspect the victims may have been attacked because they were selling liquor, which is deeply offensive to extremist Muslims here in Pakistan.
There have been a string of attacks on members of Pakistan's religious minorities since President Gen. Pervez Musharraf joined the U.S.-led coalition's war on terror. Extremist Muslims believed to be aligned to outlawed militant groups have been blamed.
Until now most of the attacks have been directed against either foreigners or Christian Pakistanis, who are often identified with the West.
An alliance of religious parties that espouse a strict brand of Islam akin to Afghanistan's former Taliban rulers are part of coalition government in Baluchistan along with the pro-military Pakistan Muslim League.
The alliance of religious parties rule in neighboring North West Frontier Province where it has banned music on public transportation and raided movie theaters, tearing down giant posters of scantily clad women.