TWELVE SHIITE MUSLIMS were ordered off a bus, lined up and executed by suspected Sunni extremists in  southwestern Pakistan on Tuesday.

Sunni militants with links to al-Qaida and the Taliban have carried out scores of bombings and shootings across the country against minority Shiites in recent years, but the past couple of weeks in Baluchistan province have been particularly bloody.

Police said the gunmen who attacked Tuesday were riding on motorbikes and stopped a bus carrying mostly Shiite Muslims who were headed to work at a vegetable market on the outskirts of Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province.

The attackers forced the people off the bus, made them stand in a line and then opened fire.

Twelve Shiites and one Sunni were killed, while five Shiites and two Sunnis were injured.

Shiites blocked the main highway on the outskirts of Quetta to protest the killings and set fire to the bus that took the dead and wounded to the hospital.

Pakistan is a majority Sunni Muslim state, with around 15 percent Shiite.

Most Sunnis and Shiites live together peacefully in Pakistan, though tensions have existed for decades.

The groups have been energised by al-Qaida and the Taliban, which are also Sunni and share the belief that Shiites are infidels and it is permissible to kill them.

Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, one of the country’s most ruthless Sunni militant groups, claimed responsibility for  similar attack in Baluchistan two weeks ago.

One of its alleged leaders, Malik Ishaq, was released from prison on bail in July after being held for 14 years on charges, never proven, of killing Shiites.

He was re-arrested about a week ago after making inflammatory speeches against Shiites in the country.

He was not charged but detained under a public order act, which means he can be held for three months.

It’s not clear whether Ishaq’s speeches have been connected to the recent wave of sectarian attacks.