At least 41 people - including women and children - have been killed after unidentified gunmen opened fire on a convoy of 200 passenger vehicles traveling through a remote area of Pakistan, writes BBC.

The vehicles were attacked as they travelled through the tribal district of Kurram in Pakistan, close to the Afghan border, according to the area’s deputy police commissioner. The gunmen initially targeted the convoy’s police escort, the provincial spokesman said in a statement.

Police were protecting the convoy following months of sectarian violence in the area, which has claimed dozens of lives this year. Police have told the BBC that 41 people were killed in attack and an additional 16 more were critically injured.