Pakistan

Balochistan unrest: Seven killed in target shooting

Banned outfit Lashkar-e-Jhangvi claims responsibility.

Express May 19, 2011

QUETTA:

In a suspected sectarian hit, at least seven people have been shot dead on the outskirts of Quetta.

Six others were injured in the incident that took place on Wednesday near Killi Kamalo in Quetta’s Saryab area. All victims belong to the Shia community and banned militant outfit Laskhar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) claimed responsibility for the attack.

As many as 14 people from the Shia community have been killed in target killings in Balochistan this month.

According to official sources, the victims were heading to the market from the Sabzi Mandi when unidentified LeJ men fired at them indiscriminately, killing five people on the spot.

Tahira Bibi, 5, who was a resident of the area, had stepped out of her house at the time of attack. Wounded, she was taken to Bolan Medical College Teaching Hospital where she succumbed to her injuries. One more injured man also died at the hospital.

“It seems the culprits had already taken position and were waiting for their targets,” a senior official said, adding that assailants escaped on a motorbike.

The deceased were identified as Ali Ahmed Hazara, Ishaq Ali, Mohammad Hanif, Ghulam Nabi and Qurban Ali while those injured are Yar Mohammad, Haji Juma, Jan Ali and Mohammad Ali.

“All the victims had bullet wounds in their upper torso,” hospital sources said.

A case has been registered against unidentified persons and Quetta police chief Daud Junejo believed that the incident was sectarian in nature.

Acting DIG operation Fareed Barech said that around 16 suspects have been rounded up and are being questioned.

Condemnation

Announcing a three-day mourning, Balochistan Shia Conference chairperson Ashraf Zaidi said that frequent attacks affirm that law enforcers and the administration know the hideouts of terrorists and are deliberately not taking action.

The Hazara Democratic Party (HDP) staged a demonstration outside the Quetta Press Club.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 19^th, 2011.

COMMENTS (3)

shia_balochi | 12 years ago | Reply We will take back revenge of these killings!! Good americans,kill all these talibans and terrorists who are sins of pakistan!!

Noise | 12 years ago | Reply Adnan AA. If Baloch Nationalists kill Hazara or other non-Baloch it a nationalist attack. When sectarian organizations like the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi targets the Hazara its a sectarian attack. The Hazara are the single largest community of Shias in the province and that makes them an obvious target for Saudi funded organizations that seek to destroy Shiism. There are been attacks like this going on in Quetta repeatedly and the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi has claimed responsibility for most of them. This one was also done by them. This makes it a sectarian attack. Do you understand now? The biggest stumbling block to stopping these kinds of incidents is the denial of the public. Their refusal to see things as they truly are. We Shias stood for the creation of Pakistan while the mullahs opposed the creation of Pakistan. Now the Mullahs' brainwashed thugs kill us Shias while the government of Pakistan turns a blind eye and the people like you stay in denial. One day God will give us justice and you will all suffer for your ignorance and cowardice. Hell, you're all suffering even now but you refuse to understand why.

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