Pashtuns refuse to bury dead from Pakistan bus hijackings

QUETTA: Hundreds of Pashtuns are protesting in Pakistan after deadly bus hijackings that killed 19 people, saying they refuse to bury their dead until the government offers them protection.

Demonstrators on Saturday placed 16 coffins with the bodies of their dead in front of the governor's house in the city of Quetta, the capital of Pakistan's restive Baluchistan province. The province was the scene of the bus hijackings Friday that saw gunmen kill 19 passengers and abduct 25.

Local Pashtun leader Allah Dad told The Associated Press on Saturday that survivors say the gunmen separated Pashtun passengers and made them stand in a line while allowing Baluch passengers to flee. Dad says the gunmen shot dead the Pashtun.

No group has claimed the attack, though separatists have carried out similar assaults.