Ban Ki-moon condemns Shias killings in Pakistan

Pakistani's shift the dead body of a Shia Muslim at a hospital in Ghari Hbibullah in the northwestern district of Mansehra, August 16, 2012.

Fri Aug 17, 2012 10:14AM GMT

The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has strongly condemned the killing of 20 Shia Muslims in a bus attack in northern Pakistan.

In a released statement on Thursday, Ban's spokesman Martin Nesirky said the UN leader slammed the "appalling" attack.

"The secretary general expresses his outrage over such deliberate attacks on people due to their religious beliefs in Pakistan," said the statement. "He also extended his heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims and to the government and people of Pakistan."

Gunmen dragged the Shia passengers off a bus in the northwestern district of Mansehra on Thursday and killed them at point blank range. Several others were injured during the attack. The victims were going from Rawalpindi to Gilgit -- a heavily-Shia-populated area.

Meanwhile, on the same day at least three more Shia Muslims were killed by gunmen in the city of Quetta in the southwestern Pakistani province of Balochistan.

Following the attack, hundreds of Pakistani people took to the streets in the southern city of Karachi to protest against the killings of Shia Muslims.

Hundreds of Shia Muslims have been killed in various parts of the violence-hit country over the past few months.

MSH/HMV/MA

Press TV

Sectarian killings, Kamra attack prove Taliban are nobody's friend: HRCP

By PPI
Published: August 17, 2012


Recent Shia killings underline the dangers faced by this minority in Pakistan: HRCP PHOTO: AFP

LAHORE: Condemning the killing of around 25 Shias in Mansehra and three in Quetta, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) on Friday demanded the concerned authorities to explain their lack of control over the situation.

On August 16, gunmen dragged Shia travellers off buses en route to Rawalpindi from Gilgit and killed them at point blank range.

According to a HRCP statement, the authorities owe an explanation to the people for their inability to crack down on sectarian killers and for their failure in protecting the lives of the citizens.

“HRCP would like to know what words of solace and reassurance the government can offer to the families of the victims and members of a community that is increasingly certain that terrorists get support from within the security agencies,” the statement said.

Drawing similarities between the Shia killings in Gilgit Baltistan and in Kohistan in February, the human rights body stated that the buses were stopped on a main road by men in military uniforms, Shia passengers were separated from the rest and executed.

Equally denouncing the killing of three men belonging to the Hazara community in Quetta on the same day, HRCP stated the events underlined the dangers faced by Shias in Pakistan.

HRCP said that the terrorists managed to strike again only because there were not tracked down after the earlier killings in Kohistan and Quetta.

“The sectarian killings and Kamra attack prove that the Taliban were nobody’s friends and those who had created them, had taken Pakistan down the road of annihilation,” the HRCP stated.

Express Tribune

HRCP condemns Shia killings

Saturday, August 18, 2012

LAHORE: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) on Friday condemned Thursday’s killing of 25 Shias from Gilgit-Baltistan and target killing of another three Shias in Quetta. In a meeting, the commission said, “The HRCP is appalled that terrorists have once again succeeded in targeting without any difficulty Shia Muslims on their way to Gilgit-Baltistan.

Thursday’s attack was similar to the one carried out in Kohistan in February in more than one respect. Again men in military uniforms stopped buses on a main road. Shia passengers were separated from the rest and executed. Many transporters had started using the Mansehra-Naran-Jalkhad route instead of the Karakoram Highway after the February killings, from

which the region had yet to recover. Thursday’s attack occurred on this changed route.” HRCP also said, “Other than claims of responsibility made by Taliban or other groups of extremist militants, the authorities appear to be clueless about who the attackers were or how to stop them. Killing

of three men belonging to Quetta’s long suffering Hazara Shia community on Thursday further underlined the hazards that Shia Muslims face in Pakistan. Such targeted killing of people because of their religious beliefs is unfortunately no longer an anomaly in Pakistan. Those keen on creating new minorities in Pakistan have made sure of that. However, HRCP

has no hesitation in stating that the terrorists managed to strike on Thursday only because those behind earlier target killings in Kohistan and Quetta had not been tracked down. The killings are doubtless the work of those who want to destroy Pakistan, but a failure to nab and punish the

killers is also contributing to the same end.” The commission said, “The attack on Kamra airbase on the same day provided evidence. If further evidence was needed that Taliban were nobody’s friends and those who had created this monster had taken Pakistan down the road of annihilation. The authorities owe an explanation to the people for their inability to crack down on sectarian killers.” staff report

Daily Times 

From Mariabad to Harvard University

It is a feel good story. A student from an underdeveloped town in Baluchistan, Mariabad, attends Harvard University for his MBA and now pursues his PhD from USC. Maria Waqar shares his story in Tribune.

Like most poor people, their aspirations rarely go beyond sustaining themselves in this underdeveloped nook of Balochistan. Many of them live and die in Mariabad (or Maree Abad) — unaware of the complex concerns and tremendous pace of life in urban centres like Karachi and Lahore.

But one student — the son of a trader who sold Quaid-e-Azam style caps in Mariabad for a living — dared to tread a radically different path. Karrar Hussain Jaffar transcended the confines of an obscure town in Balochistan, where people rarely educate themselves beyond matriculation, to study at the prestigious Harvard University. His story — a narrative about the wondrous possibilities of equal educational opportunities — is truly inspirational....continue Reading....

Three more Hazaras killed in Quetta

our correspondent
Friday, August 17, 2012
From Print Edition

QUETTA: In a fresh wave of target killings, three persons were killed in the provincial capital after unknown armed men attacked an auto-rickshaw at the Arbab Karam Khan Road on Thursday.

Police said unidentified armed men, riding a motorcycle, attacked an auto-rickshaw in which three persons were travelling from the Quetta city to Hazara Town. The attackers opened indiscriminate fire from automatic weapons, killing all of them. The victims belonged to the Hazara community. The deceased were identified as Ghulam Husain, Abdul Ali and the rickshaw driver Qurban Ali. The armed men made their escape from the scene.

Officials of police and rescue teams reached the spot on information and shifted the bodies to the Civil Hospital. The people from Hazara community thronged the hospital, staged protest and demanded of the government to step down, saying the incident proved a failure of the government.

Moving scenes were witnessed in the hospital when bodies of the deceased were being handed over to the heirs.Meanwhile, Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) strongly condemned the killings and held the provincial government responsible for the deaths.

A spokesman for the PkMAP said in a statement issued to the press that target killings, terrorism, kidnapping for ransom had become a matter of routine in Balochistan, while the government was oblivious of the gravity of the situation.

He observed that the government had failed in providing security to citizens and demanded of the government to step down in the larger interest of the province.APP adds: The police, soon after the incident, cordoned off the entire area and started a search operation.

The News 

Three gunned down in Quetta

Agencies


Police sources said that it appeared that these were targeted killings.—File Photo

QUETTA: As many as three persons have been killed in an incident of firing in Balochistan’s provincial capital of Quetta on Thursday.

Gunmen on a motorcycle pulled three people from a rickshaw and opened fire on them.

“Unknown armed men riding bike opened fire on a vehicle at Arbab Karam Khan road area, leaving three person in the vehicle seriously injured,” police said adding that the wounded succumbed to their injuries on way to the hospital.

Nobody immediately claimed the responsibility for the killings which took place at Arbab Karam Khan Road, a middle-class neighbourhood of Quetta, said police official Noor Baksh.

Police sources said that it appeared that these were targeted killings.

DAWN

کوئٹہ: ارباب کرم خان روڈ پر فائرنگ، 3 افراد جاں بحق

August 16, 2012 - Updated 1730 PKT

کوئٹہ … کوئٹہ میں نامعلوم افراد کی فائرنگ سے 3 افراد جاں بحق ہوگئے۔ ذرائع کے مطابق کوئٹہ کے علاقے ارباب کرم خان روڈ پر نامعلوم افراد نے فائرنگ کردی جس کے نتیجے میں 3 افرا جاں بحق ہوگئے۔ واقعے کے بعد پولیس اور امدادی ٹیمیں 

جائے وقوعہ پر پہنچ گئیں۔امدادی کارروائیاں شرو ع کردی گئیں ہیں جبکہ پولیس واقعے سے متعلق تفتیش کررہی ہے

Geo  TV


کوئٹہ میں نامعلوم افراد نے تین افراد کو رکشے سے اتار کر قتل کردیا اور فرار ہوگئے۔

پولیس کے مطابق ارباب کرم خان روڈ پر فاروق ملز کے قریب موٹر سائیکل سوار نامعلوم افراد نے ایک رکشہ کو اسلحہ کے زور پر روکا اور اس میں سوار تین افراد کو اتار کر ان پر اندھا دھند فائرنگ کردی جس کے نتیجے میں تینوں افراد موقع پر ہی جاں بحق ہوگئے ۔ ملزمان واردات کے بعد فرار ہوگئے ۔ عینی شاہدین کے مطابق مقتولین کی لاشیں پولیس کے آنے تک سڑک پر پڑی رہیں ، پولیس نے موقع پر پہنچ کر لاشوں کو سول اسپتال منتقل کیا جہاں دو افراد کی شناخت خادم حسین اور عبدال علی کے نام سے ہوگئی۔ پولیس کے مطابق جاں بحق افراد کا تعلق ہزارہ قبیلے سے ہے اور واقعہ ٹارگٹ کلنگ کا نتیجہ ہے ۔