5 pilgrims on foot journey die of thirst, starvation in Pak

At least five pilgrims of the minority Zikri community were today found dead in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province with officials saying they died apparently of thirst, starvation and heatstrokes.
The five men, who had begun their foot journey from Ghundi Kapper in Pasni to Koh-i-Imam in Turbat on Sunday, were found dead in the Kapar mountainous region of Kech district, Deputy Commissioner of Gwardar Abdul Hameed Abro said.
"Six of them had set off on a foot journey from Ghundi Kapper in Pasni to Koh-i-Imam in Turbat around six days back. But one of them apparently opted out," he said.

Koh-i-Imam is a sacred religious place for the Zikri community.
"We discovered three bodies in the morning and three others in the afternoon. All of them belonged to Gwadar. They appear to have died of thirst, starvation and the heatwave in a desolate place where there is no population for miles," he said.
The Zikri community and their places of worship have been targeted in the past by militant groups in growing sectarian violence in the province.
Majority of them are based in the Awaran district which was hit hard by earthquakes last year.
Zikri Mahdavis, or Zikris, are an offshoot of the Mahdavi movement found mostly in the said region and eastern Iran. Zikri derives from the Arabic word Dhikr, meaning remembrance, devotion and invocation.