At least 13 passengers travelling in two vehicles have been killed by a group of unknown gunmen, in a shooting that occurred in the usually tranquil Balkh Province's Zari district in northern Afghanistan, media reports said.
"The gunmen stopped two vehicles, lined up all the male passengers and shot them dead. They spared the life of one women who was in one of the vehicles. All the victims were ethnic Hazara minorities," Jafar Haidari, the governor of Zari district, was quoted by the news agency AFP as saying.
No one has yet claimed responsibility for the killings, which came amid an intensification of attacks by Taliban militants in Afghanistan.