Eight persons were today killed and five more injured when unidentified gunmen opened fire at a convoy of vehicles carrying members of the Shia community in the Kurram tribal region of restive northwest Pakistan. Officials said that the vehicles, which were coming from Kurram Agency to Hangu district in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, were ambushed in Bagan town in the tribal belt. Besides passenger vehicles, there were several trucks carrying supplies to Kurram Agency.All the dead and injured were Shias, officials said, adding that the attackers also set the vehicles on fire. Security forces cordoned off the area and started a search after the attack. No group claimed responsibility for the attack. Hangu district and Kurram Agency have witnessed numerous incidents of sectarian clashes between the majority Sunnis and minority Shias in the past few years. Dozens have died in these incidents. In a separate development, security forces targeted militant hideouts and killed seven suspected rebels in Orakzai tribal region. Two militant hideouts were destroyed in the attacks in Shakartangi, Ghaljo and Mamezai areas. In yet another incident, pro-Taliban militants blew up two girls' primary schools in Khyber Agency.