State-Backed Terrorists Kill 9 Shia Muslims in Pakistan

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Pro-Taliban militants have clashed with Shia Muslims in central Pakistan, leaving at least nine Shias dead and six others injured, according to security and hospital sources.Members of the Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat, the new name of the banned anti-Shia group Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), were involved in Friday’s clashes, which happened in the town of Bhakkar in Punjab province.At least two militants were also killed in the violence.The SSP was established in the early 1980s during the military rule of General Zia-ul-Haq. However, Pervez Musharraf, another military ruler, banned the outfit in 2002, declaring it a terrorist organization under the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1997.Hundreds of Shia Muslims later held a demonstration in Bhakkar against the killings and blocked a local road.The protesters also called on the government to take immediate action against the forces involved in the violence.Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen, which is one of the largest Shia political formations in Pakistan, announced a three-day mourning period for the victims.In order to ward off any further violence, a strict indefinite curfew, starting from 10:00AM, will be clamped on Bhakkar and other restive districts on Saturday as the environment continues to remain hostile after sectarian clashes left 11 people dead on Friday.According to police officials, the curfew will remain enforced until further orders in Bhakkar, Darya Khan, Kotla Jam, Panj Garaeen, and Kahawar Kalan as these districts are most vulnerable to violence.The Executive District Officer (EDO) Education Qazi Zahoor Hussain said that all the institutes would remain closes in the cities under curfew, areas.Human rights groups have criticized the Pakistani government for its failure to stem the rising tide of violence against the country’s Shia Muslims.On February 16, a bomb attack targeting Shia Muslims in the main bazaar of the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta killed at least 90 people, including women and children, and injured 200 others. According to the police, most of the victims were Hazara Shias.On January 10, a twin bomb attack at a crowded billiard hall killed more than 90 people, mostly Shia Muslims, in Quetta, which is the capital of Balochistan province.According to former Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik, anti-Shia terrorist group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) has been involved in 80 percent of terrorist incidents in the country.The LeJ was founded in 1996 by Riaz Basra after he broke away from the SSP over differences with his superiors. /129