Pakistan currently seems to be going through a refreshed wave of militancy highlighted by two major militant attacks during past two days killing 19 people. Sectarian killing is now the chief source of terrorism in the country with majority of the attacks, from 2011 till March 2012, were carried out on Shia – the minority Muslim sect- of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas- FATA. These attacks on Shia have become a major concern for the country as the security agencies have so far failed to curb the militant groups behind such attacks.
In the most recent sectarian attack, on March 12, 2012, a bus en-route to Parachinar ´ a Shia town ´ via Peshawar was targeted allegedly by a banned sectarian outfit through an improvised explosive
device (IED) that left two people dead and 20 injured. [1] One of the dead, Mr Jaffar Hussian, was father of a CRSS research associate, Ms. Nabila Jaffar. In another incident, on March 11 2010, a funeral gathering was targeted that left as many as 17 dead, near the outskirts of Peshawar in the militant infested KP region. The prime target of militants in the attacks was apparently the deputy speaker of the provincial assembly, Khushdil Khan belonging the ruling Awami National Party, and some members of the Tribal Laskhar (the local anti-militant force).
A year ago, on March 9, a similar attack took place on a funeral when a suicide bomber blew himself up targeting members of the Laskhar and their relatives, killing 37 and injuring dozens[2]. It was the funeral
of wife of a Lashkar member, Wakeel Khan, who was also related to the Lashkar chief, Dilawar Khan.
Tekhrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) appears to be behind all the above mentioned three attacks, and a recent sectarian attack on a bus carrying Shia people in Kohistan, killing 18 people [3]. The TTP has largely been responsible for major terrorist attacks in KP and FATA where as the LeJ targeted Shia Muslims in Balochistan. As many as 80 Shias were killed in Balochistan in 2011 for no reason other than their religious belief. [4]
The wave of sectarianism is haunting Pakistan for the past few decades with no signs of an imminent end to it. In a recent attempt to curb sectarian activities in wake of the Kohistan bus attack, the interior ministry of Pakistan, on March 10, banned four sectarian and ethnic outfits in the country- including Shia Talba Tanzeem, Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamat, formerly known as Sipah-e-Sahaba, and Karachi-based People
Aman Committee, an offshoot of ruling Pakistan People Party (PPP) and Tehreek-e-Naujawan Ahle-Sunnat Gilgit (TNA). [5]
The new spate of violence suggests that banned sectarian outfits are active again in the country. After TTP in KP, LeJ seems to be currently the most active sectarian outfit targeting the Shia Muslims in different parts of the country. LeJ, having a violent background, is considered to be the precursor of violent sectarianism in Pakistan, but still remains an unchallenged entity within the country. In current scenario the country could ill afford any sectarian violence as it may lead to an uncontrollable chain of bloodshed among two major Muslim sects in the country.
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[1]http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-7-97374-2-killed-as-coach-hits-roadside-bomb-in-Kurram
[2]http://articles.businessinsider.com/2011-03-09/news/30018120_1_taliban-bomb-peshawar-taliban-leader
[3]http://www.dawn.com/2012/02/28/atleast-18-dead-in-pakistan-bus-ambush-police.html
[4]http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/pakistan/Balochistan/index.html