DTN News - PAKISTAN SECTARIAN VIOLENCE: Militants Attack Shiites In Peshawar, 15 Killed

Defense News: DTN News - PAKISTAN SECTARIAN VIOLENCE: Militants Attack Shiites In Peshawar, 15 Killed

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources AP
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - June 21, 2013: Militants opened fire on a Shiite Muslim mosque where worshippers were gathering for Friday prayers, and then a suicide bomber detonated his explosives inside, killing 15 people in the latest attack aimed at the minority sect, police said.

The attack hit the city of Peshawar, which is on the outskirts of Pakistan's tribal area, the main sanctuary for Islamic militants. They have targeted the city with scores of bombings in recent years.

Three militants initiated the attack on the mosque, located inside a Shiite religious school, by firing on a policeman who was standing guard outside, said senior police official Shafiullah Khan. The policeman was critically wounded, Khan said.

The militants then entered the mosque, where one of them detonated his suicide vest. The other two militants escaped, and police have launched a search operation to find them, Khan said. Fifteen people were killed and scores more wounded, he said.

Zawar Hussain, who was inside the mosque when the attackers struck, said their firing set off panic among the roughly 300 worshippers inside. Then came the explosion.

"After the blast, I fell down. People were crying for help," said Hussain. "I saw bodies and badly injured worshippers everywhere."

Local TV video showed blood splattered on the floor and walls of the mosque. Broken glass littered the floor, and there were holes in the walls and ceiling caused by ball bearings packed in with the bomber's explosives to cause maximum damage and casualties. Relatives at a local hospital wailed in grief as rescue workers wheeled in wounded victims, their clothes soaked in blood.

No one has claimed responsibility for the bombing.

Radical Sunni Muslims who consider Shiites to be heretics have stepped up attacks against the minority sect in Pakistan over the last several years.

On Saturday, a bomb that appeared to be targeting Shiites ripped through a bus carrying female university students in the southwest city of Quetta, killing 14 people. Militants then attacked a hospital where wounded victims were taken, killing more people.

The militant group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi claimed responsibility for the attack in Quetta and could be suspected in Friday's Peshawar attack as well. The group has carried out many of the attacks against Shiites in Pakistan in recent years, especially in Baluchistan province, where Quetta is the capital.

Although most Sunnis and Shiites live peacefully together in Pakistan, the country has a long history of sectarian attacks by radicals on both sides.

In the 1980s and 1990s, Pakistan became the scene of a proxy war between mostly Shiite Iran and Sunni Saudi Arabia, with both sides funneling money to sectarian groups that regularly targeted each other.

Most of the attacks in recent years have been by radical Sunnis against Shiites. Last year was one of the most deadly for Shiites in Pakistan's history, according to Human Rights Watch, which said more than 400 Shiites were killed.

This year is shaping up to be even deadlier. Two attacks carried out by Lashkar-e-Jhangvi in Quetta at the beginning of the year killed nearly 200 people.

The sectarian violence presents a significant challenge to Pakistan's new government, which took power earlier this month under the leadership of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Human rights activists and members of the Shiite community criticized the last government for failing to do enough to stop the attacks. The new government has promised to do more, but some critics have questioned whether Sharif will follow through. His party has done little to crack down on Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and other militant groups in its home province of Punjab in central Pakistan, even though the party controlled the provincial government for the last five years.

*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources AP
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DTN News - PAKISTAN NEWS: Sectarian Violence From Kohistan To Karachi

Defense News: DTN News - PAKISTAN NEWS: Sectarian Violence From Kohistan To Karachi
*Protests rage over Kohistan killings
*Pakistani Shiite Muslims chant slogans during a protest against the killing of their community members in Karachi on February 28, 2012. Sectarian gunmen disguised in military fatigues hauled 18 Shiite Muslim men off buses on February 28 and shot them dead in cold blood in a usually quiet region of northern Pakistan. Authorities blamed the assault on Islamist militant groups, without naming a specific organisation. The attack took place in the northern district of Kohistan, which neighbours the Swat valley, a former Taliban stronghold.

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Dawn

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - February 29, 2012: Gunmen in military uniform forced people going from Rawalpindi to Gilgit to disembark from buses in Kohistan’s Harban area on Tuesday and gunned down 16 of them after checking their names on their ID cards which invoked protests all over the country.

“Sixteen people were killed in the incident. The bodies were handed over to the deputy commissioner of Chilas after autopsy at Shitial hospital,” Mohammad Ilyas, district police officer, Kohistan, told reporters.

According to foreign news agencies, this was a sectarian attack as confirmed by a man claiming to be spokesman for the Jandullah faction of Taliban. He said the 16 were killed by ‘Mujahideen’ because they were Shias.

A large number of people came out on roads in protest against the killings. They burned tyres at different chowks. Shops and markets were closed. The district administration imposed Section 144 in Gilgit city and announced closure of offices and schools for three days.

Protesters took out a procession from Imamia Jamia Mosque in Skardu and marched up to Yadgar-i-Shuhada Baltistan.

Jafria Alliance Pakistan (JAP) has condemned the brutal killings and announced a three-day mourning and country- wide protest on Friday.

According to officials, the attackers intercepted four buses on the Karakoram Highway, asked the passengers to get off, shot 16 people dead after checking their ID cards and escaped.

DPO Mohammad Ilyas said 117 passengers were on the buses. Police took the bodies to the hospital.

Harban is about four kilometres from Tangier and Darail areas where security forces have been attacked for several times in recent past.

MPA Abdul Sattar Khan, who belongs to Dasso tehsil, said the carnage was apparently related to recent sectarian clashes in Gilgit.

Senior officials of the Kohistan district administration were tight lipped about the nature of the killings.

“We have registered an FIR and started investigation and everything will be clear after completion of preliminary investigation,” Mr Ilyas said.

Farman Ali Baltistani adds from Skardu: Seven victims were from Baltistan division, four from Nagar, two from Astore and one from Gilgit. The bodies of the other two could not be identified.

Meanwhile, two people were injured in incidents of firing in Sakwar village. They were identified as Zulfiqar and Abdul Mannan, residents of Gilgit.

President Asif Ali Zardari took notice of the incident and summoned a detailed report within three days.

Federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik formed a joint investigation team.

Malik said that Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) have been involved in similar crimes in the past.

Gilgit-Baltistan Governor Pir Karam Ali Shah and Chief Minister Syed Mehdi Shah condemned the Harban killings. They said the culprits would soon be arrested.

Our correspondent adds from Shangla: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti called Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Minister Syed Mehdi Shah and condemned the incident.

He termed it a cowardly and brutal act and said the elements involved would be brought to book whether they belonged to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa or Gilgit-Baltistan.

AP adds: According to lawmaker Abdul Sattar the victims were Shias. He said eight gunmen were involved in the ambush, and all were wearing military uniforms, presumably to make it easier to stop the buses.

Officials initially said 18 people had been killed and that just one bus was involved.

Mr Sattar and Sher Khan, an official at the Rawalpindi bus station, said attacks had been feared on travellers after an incident last month in which an unknown number of Sunnis were killed in the Gilgit region. Sher Khan said buses were travelling in convoy as a security measure.

Aamir Yasin adds from Rawalpindi: Private transporters running buses from Rawalpindi to Gilgit-Baltistan suspended operation after the incident.

More than 50 buses for Gilgit and Skardu run on the route. Due to insecurity, people mostly use air route to go to Gilgit.

The transporters said they would not resume the bus service unless the government took adequate security measures and ensure safety of passengers. “The government should take serious steps to stop such attacks,” said Nisar Ali, the owner of
Mashabroom Tour Operators.

He said that most of the passengers on the buses were pilgrims returning from Iran and some army officers and personnel.

“Luckily, 47 pilgrims remained safe because their bus had departed one hour late,” he said.

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*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Dawn
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