Eight people, including five teachers, have been shot dead at a school in Pakistan's north-western Kurram district, authorities said on Thursday.
A long-simmering row between Sunni and Shiite Muslims erupted into deadly violence, AFP reported.
Two gunmen entered a school in the remote border town of Teri Mangal in Kurram district, less than a kilometre from the Afghan border, as teachers gathered exam papers students had completed earlier in the day.
"They identified Shiite people and separated them before opening fire," Muhammad Imran, police chief for the district, told AFP.
The shooting occurred hours after a man from the local Sunni community died in hospital from injuries he sustained after being attacked in his car, said Amir Nawaz, a senior government official in the area.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks, which happened in an area close to the border with Afghanistan.
Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the attacks and ordered an investigation.
The teachers killed were members of Pakistan’s minority Shia community, which is a frequent target of armed groups, AP reported.
Former president Asif Ali Zardari tweeted that the shootings were an act of terrorism.
There has been a surge in militant attacks in Pakistan in recent months.
