LeJ: Sectarian Impunity

By South Asia Intelligence Review/IBNS

On September 20, 2011, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) militants shot dead 29 Shias in two separate incidents in Balochistan. In the first incident, a bus carrying 45 Shia pilgrims, travelling from Quetta, the provincial capital, to Taftan (Iran), came under attack in Mastung. About 10 assailants, riding on a twin-cab pick-up and armed with AK-47 rifles and rocket launchers, intercepted the bus, ordered all the passengers out and then opened indiscriminate fire, killing 26 and injuring another five. An hour after the first attack, militants killed another three Shias, who Police said were relatives of victims of the first incident en route to collect their bodies, on the outskirts of Quetta. Claiming the attack, LeJ 'spokesperson' Ali Sher Haideri declared that his outfit would continue to target people from the Shia community.

Three days later, on September 23, three Shias were killed and another four injured in an attack on a passenger van on the outskirts of Quetta.

On August 31, 2011, an LeJ suicide bomber had killed at least 11 Shias and injured 22 during Eid-ul-Fitr celebrations in a Shiite mosque in Quetta.

According to partial data compiled by the Institute for Conflict Management a total of 2,555 sectarian attacks have taken place across Pakistan since 1989, inflicting a total of 3,622 fatalities.

Some of the major attacks (involving three or more fatalities) in 2010-11 include:

July 29, 2011: LeJ militants killed at least seven people, including four Shias, waiting to travel to Mashhad in Iran, at a bus terminal on Saryab Road in Quetta.

May 18, 2011: At least seven Shias, including a passerby, were killed and six others sustained bullet injuries in an attack near the Killi Kamalo area of Quetta.

September 1, 2010: 43 persons were killed and another 230 injured in two suicide attacks and one grenade attack on a Shia procession marking Hazrat Ali's martyrdom in Lahore. LeJ Al-Alami claimed responsibility for the three attacks, which occurred minutes apart in the Bhaati Gate locality of Lahore.

April 17, 2010: Two burqa-clad suicide bombers targeted a crowd of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) waiting to get registered and receive relief goods at the Kacha Pakka IDP camp on the outskirts of Kohat in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), formerly known as North West Frontier Province (NWFP), killing at least 44 and injuring more than 70. The Lashkar-e-Jhangvi's Al-Aalmi faction claimed responsibility for the bombings, and cited the presence of Shias at the IDP camp as the reason for the attack.

April 16, 2010: A suicide bomber blew himself up in an attack inside the Civil Hospital in Quetta, killing 11 persons and injuring 35 others. Unidentified assailants riding a motorcycle killed Arshad Zaidi, the son of the chief of the Shia Conference Balochistan, Syed Ashraf Zaidi. Hundreds of supporters, including Member of the National Assembly (MNA) Nasir Ali Shah and dozens of journalists, rushed to the hospital where the body was lying. The suicide bombing occurred when a large crowd had gathered at the casualty ward. The LeJ claimed that it had carried out the suicide bombing that also injured MNA Shah of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP).

March 12, 2010: At least 57 persons, including eight soldiers, were killed and more than 90 persons were injured as twin suicide blasts, moments apart from each other, ripped through the Lahore's RA Bazaar in the cantonment area. The primary target was a Shia Imambargah during Friday prayers. LeJ claimed responsibility for the attack.

Rising sectarianism in Pakistani society has emboldened militant groups that espouse sectarian violence. The primary player, here, is the LeJ, which was formed in 1996, when it formally separated from Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) now known as Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ). The LeJ aims to transform Pakistan into a Sunni state, primarily through violence. Muhammad Ajmal alias Akram Lahori is the present Saalar-i-Aala ('Commander-in-Chief') of the LeJ. Lahori is currently in Police custody following his arrest from Orangi Town in Karachi on June 17, 2002. Although Lahori officially remains the LeJ chief, Qari Mohammad Zafar is now believed to be the strategic 'commander', while operational command is understood to have moved to middle ranking leaders.

The LeJ consists of eight loosely co-ordinated cells spread across Pakistan with independent chiefs for each cell. Headed by Maulana Abdul Khalil, a fugitive militant leader from central Punjab, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi Al-Aalmi (the 'international' wing) operates mostly in central parts of Punjab and the tribal areas. The group works in close connection with al Qaeda and its activists have been used as foot soldiers by Arab-dominated terror groups in their plots inside Pakistan. Asian Tigers, another LeJ cell, is dominated by Punjabi militants, though some Pakhtoon militants of the Mehsud tribe are affiliated with it as well. The third cell is Junoodul Hafsa, comprising militants who aim to exact revenge for the storming of Islamabad's Lal Masjid and its affiliated female seminary, Jamia Hafsa, in a military operation in 2007. The group operates in close coordination with the Ghazi Force, a network named after one of the two clerics of Lal Masjid, Maulana Abdul Rasheed Ghazi, who was killed in the operation. The outfit, led by a former student of Lal Masjid, Maulana Niaz Rahim, operates out of Ghaljo area of the Orakzai Agency in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and the adjacent Hangu District in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and targets military installations and personnel in parts of KP and upper Punjab, especially Islamabad. The fourth cell affiliated to LeJ is the Punjabi Taliban. Other small cells, which operate under this umbrella outfit, include those commanded by Usman Punjabi, Qari Imran, Amjad Farooqi and Qari Zafar. These cells generally operate within Punjab.

The lethality and operational successes of the LeJ, over the years, are substantially attributed to its multi-cell structure, with each maintaining limited contact with the others. Each sub-group is responsible for carrying out activities in a specific geographic location. Reports indicate that, after each attack, LeJ cadres disperse and subsequently reassemble at the various bases/hideouts to plan future operations.

LeJ's presence and operations have been reported from locations as varied as Lahore, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Multan, Islamabad, Jhang, Khanewal, Layyah, Bhakkar, Sargodha, Rahimyar Khan, Sahiwal, Bahawalpur and Bahawalnagar in Punjab; Orakzai Agency, Bajaur Agency, Parachinar, Kurram Agency, South Waziristan and North Waziristan in FATA; Bannu, Kohat, Chitral, Gilgit and Dera Ismail Khan in KP; Karachi, Sukkur, Hyderabad, Nawabshah, and Mirpur Khas in Sindh; and Mastung and Quetta in Balochistan.

While Shias remain the primary targets of the LeJ, the group has, since 2002, broadened its focus to include other civilian, Government and Western targets. Despite the ban on the group since January 12, 2002, the Pakistani Government has been unable to neutralise its operations. An intelligence agency's report on August 25, 2011, noted that banned militant organisations, including LeJ, had resumed 'full-scale public activity' and had begun recruiting young men from Punjab. Another report forwarded by the Punjab Home Department stated that LeJ had also become more active, particularly after the release of the group's founder Malik Ishaq in July 2011.

One of the prominent leaders and co-founder of LeJ, Malik Ishaq had been charged in 44 cases, involving the murder of 70 persons, most of them Shias. He was, however, released by the Supreme Court for lack of evidence. Ishaq was suspected to have been involved in the March 3, 2009, attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore, but was granted bail on July 14, 2011. Ishaq was arrested in 1997 for a variety of crimes, most of which were of a sectarian nature. Over the years, the cases against him faltered, as many witnesses were too scared to testify. Ishaq was acquitted in 34 out of 44 cases, while, in the remaining 10, including the attack on Sri Lankan cricket team, he had already been granted bail.

Significantly, during his stay in jail he received a stipend from the Punjab Government and, like other key terror suspects, was allowed to use a mobile phone. Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah confirmed the disbursement of the stipend, but clarified that it was given to Ishaq's family, not to him, as per orders of the court. Further investigations, however, revealed that there was no such disbursement to the family, nor was there any court order pertaining to the matter.

A US State Department report published on August 31, 2011, observed that Pakistan was incapable of prosecuting terror suspects. It said that, while Pakistan maintained it was committed to prosecuting those accused of terrorism, its Anti-terrorism Court (ATC)'s rulings in 2010 tell a different story, showing that the acquittal rate among suspected terrorists was approximately 75 percent.

Meanwhile, buoyed by his release, Malik Ishaq declared, "We are ready to lay down our lives for the honour of the companions of the Holy Prophet."

Tariq Ilyas Kyani, an officer at the Lahore Police Crime Investigation Agency (CIA) department, rightly observed, "Terrorist activities did not stop even when [Ishaq] was in captivity." However, sectarian violence has witnessed a surge since Ishaq's release. Out of 19 sectarian attacks in 2011, in which 176 persons were killed, seven attacks, resulting in 62 fatalities, have taken place after July 14.

Instead of launching any hard initiatives against the LeJ, the Punjab Government, on September 22, 2011, again placed Malik Ishaq under temporary detention at his home, charging him of stoking Sunni-Shia conflict since his release from prison. The Punjab Government ordered that Ishaq remain at home for 10 days.

Given Islamabad's lackadaisical approach towards Islamist terrorism in general, and sectarian violence against the country's minorities, in particular, action against the LeJ has generally been an eye wash, and the present steps hold no promise of reining in the menace of sectarian terror across the country.


(The writer Tushar Ranjan Mohanty is Research Assistant, Institute for Conflict Management)

(The view expressed in the article is of the author and not India Blooms News Service)

Washington Bangla Radio USA

مستونگ ہلاکتیں، عدالت کی سماعت

بلوچستان ہائی کورٹ نے شعیہ زائرین پر فائرنگ کے واقعے کا از خود نوٹں لیا

بلوچستان ہائی کورٹ نے مستونگ میں کوئٹہ سے ایران جانے والے شیعہ زائرین کی بس پر فائرنگ سے متعلق تفتیش پر عدم اطمینان کا اظہار کرتے ہوئے مستونگ میں جائے وقوعہ کا نقشہ اور علاقے میں پولیس اور لیویز ایف سی اور کسٹم کی چیک پوسٹوں کی تفصیلات طلب کرلیں۔

کوئٹہ سے بی بی سی کے نامہ نگار ایوب ترین کے مطابق بلوچستان ہائی کورٹ کے چیف جسٹس جناب جسٹس قاضی فائز عیسیٰ اور جسٹس ہاشم کاکڑ پر مشتمل ڈویژن بینچ نے بلوچستان کے علاقے مستونگ میں لکپاس کے مقام پر کوئٹہ سے تفتان جانے والی زائرین کی بس پر فائرنگ اور انتیس افراد کی ہلاکت کے واقعہ کی از خود نوٹس لینے کے بعد پیرکے روز سماعت کی۔

سماعت کے دوران صوبائی وزارت داخلہ کی جانب سے عدالت میں سانحہ مستونگ سے متعلق رپورٹ پیش کی گئیی جس میں بتایا گیا کہ واقعہ کی تحقیقات کے لیے سیکریٹری داخلہ نصیب اللہ بازئی کی سربراہی میں اعلیٰ سطحی تحقیقاتی کمیٹی تشکیل دی گئی ہے۔

عدالت کو بتایا گیا کہ مستونگ واقعہ کی تحقیقات لیویز سے لے کر اب سی آئی ڈی کے حوالے کردی گئی ہے۔
یہ کمیٹی واقعہ کے وقت سکیورٹی کی خامیوں کی نشاندہی کرے گی۔ اس کے علاوہ علاقے میں لیویز اور پولیس کی نفری بڑھانے کے ساتھ ساتھ ایف سی کے تین پلاٹونز بھی گشت کےلیے طلب کرلی گئی ہیں۔

عدالت کو بتایا گیا کہ مستونگ واقعہ کی تحقیقات لیویز سے لے کر اب سی آئی ڈی کے حوالے کردی گئی ہے۔

سماعت کے دوران نائب تحصیلدار مستونگ نے تفتیشی رپورٹ عدالت میں پیش کی۔

تفتیشی افسر نے عدالت کو بتایا کہ مستونگ واقعہ میں ڈرائیور سمیت تین چشم دید گواہوں کے بیانات ریکارڈ کرلیے گئے ہیں۔جبکہ واقعہ میں زخمی ہونے والے افراد کے بیانات ریکارڈ نہیں ہوسکے۔

رپورٹ کے مطابق واقعہ پانچ بج کر پندرہ منٹ پر ہوا جبکہ لیویز نے ایف آئی آر چھ بجے درج کی جس میں لاشوں کا ذکر نہیں ہے۔

عدالت نے تفتیش کو ناقص اور نامکمل قرار دیتے ہوئے اس پر عدم اطمینان اور برہمی کا اظہار کیا۔

قاضی فائز عیسیٰ نے ریمارکس دیتے ہوئے کہا کہ لیویز اس کیس کی تفتیش نہیں کرسکتی تو مستونگ کو لیویز کے حوالے کرنے کا جواز کیا ہے۔ جسٹس ہاشم کاکڑ نے ایڈووکیٹ جنرل سے استفسار کیا کہ جس روز مستونگ میں یہ سانحہ پیش آیا اورجب لیویز والوں نے فائرنگ کی آواز سنی تو وہ روکنے کیلئے کیوں نہیں آئے۔

عدالت نے اس سلسلے میں سپریم کورٹ بار کی صدر اور انٹرنیشنل کمیشن آف جیورسٹس کو نوٹس جاری کیے کہ وہ آکر آگاہ کریں کہ ہائی کورٹ کو از خود نوٹس لینے کا اختیار ہے یا نہیں
سماعت کے دوران ایڈووکیٹ جنرل امان اللہ کنرانی کی جانب سے عدالت کو بتایا گیا کہ فائرنگ میں استعمال ہونے والی گاڑیوں کو تلاش کرلیاجائےگا عدالت نے مستونگ میں جائے وقوعہ کا نقشہ اور علاقے میں لیویز ،پولیس، ایف سی اور کسٹم کی چیک پوسٹوں کی تفصیلات طلب کرلیں۔

عدالت نے سپریم کورٹ بار ایسوسی ایشن کی صدر عاصمہ جہانگیر کے اس بیان کو بھی کیس کا حصہ بنایا جس میں انہوں نے کہا تھا کہ ہائی کورٹ کو سوو موٹو نوٹس لینے کا اختیار نہیں ہے۔

عدالت نے اس سلسلے میں سپریم کورٹ بار کی صدر اور انٹرنیشنل کمیشن آف جیورسٹس کو نوٹس جاری کیے کہ وہ آکر آگاہ کریں کہ ہائی کورٹ کو از خود نوٹس لینے کا اختیار ہے یا نہیں۔

عدالت کی اس سلسلے میں معاونت کے لیے سماعت کے دوران ہزارہ ڈیموکریٹک پارٹی، بلوچستان بار کونسل، پاکستان بار کونسل نے مستونگ واقعہ کیخلاف ہائی کورٹ کے از خود نوٹس کیس میں فریق بننے کے لیے درخواست دائر کی۔ عدالت نےاس درخواست کو منظور کرلیا اور کیس کی سماعت چار اکتوبر تک ملتوی کردی ۔

BBC URDU

TOLOnews_Special Report on Tourism

صنعت سیاحت افغانستان - بامیان به اماکن دیدنی

اہل تشیع کی ٹارگٹ کلنگ کے خلاف مظاہرہ

پير 26 ستمبر 2011 ,‭ 01:27 GMT 06:27

چند دن پہلے مستونگ میں شیعہ زائرین کی بس پر نامعلوم افراد کی فائرنگ کے نتیجے میں انتیس افراد ہلاک ہو گئے تھے

بلوچستان میں اہل تشیع نے سانحہ مستونگ کے خلاف ایک احتجاج کرتے ہوئے افواج پاکستان سے ٹارگٹ کلنگ روکنے کا مطالبہ کیا ہے۔

مظاہرین نے احتجاج میں مطالبہ کیا کہ مذہبی انتہاء پسندی میں ملوث افراد کوگرفتار کیا جائے۔

کوئٹہ سے بی بی سی کے نامہ نگار ایوب ترین کے مطابق تحفظ عزاداری کونسل کی جانب سے اتوار کو کوئٹہ میں امام بارگاہ نیچاری سے ایک احتجاجی ریلی نکالی گئی۔

احتجاجی ریلی شہر کے مختلف شاہراہوں سے ہوتی ہوئی کوئٹہ چھاؤنی کے حدود میں داخل ہوئی جہاں مظاہرین نے صوبائی حکومت کے خلاف نعرہ بازی کی۔

بعد میں ریلی کے شرکاء نے کئی گھنٹوں تک سڑک پر دھرنا دیا۔ انھوں نے کوئٹہ میں ٹارگٹ کلنگ کے خلاف پلے کارڈز بھی اٹھائے رکھے تھے۔

اس موقع پر شیعہ رہنماؤں کی جانب سے فارسی میں کی گئی تقاریر میں فوج سے اہل تشیع کی ٹارگٹ کلنگ روکنے اور ان واقعات میں ملوث مذہبی انتہاء پسندوں کوگرفتار کرنے کا مطالبہ کیا۔

مظاہرے اور دھرنے کے موقع پر صوبائی حکومت کی جانب سے سخت حفاظتی انتظامات کیے گئے تھے۔

پولیس نے نہ صرف کوئٹہ شہر کے کئی شاہراہوں کو ٹریفک اور عوام کے لیے بند کیا ہوا تھا بلکہ فرنٹیئر کور کے اہلکار بھی گاڑیوں میں گشت کر رہے تھے۔

تاہم بعد میں فوجی حکام کی جانب سے شیعہ مسلک سے تعلق رکھنے والوں کو تحفظ فراہم کرنے کی یقین دہانی کے بعد مظاہرین پرامن طور پر منتشر ہوگئے۔

تحفظ عزادری کونسل کے سربراہ رحیم جعفری کا کہنا تھا کہ صوبائی اور وفاقی حکومت اہل تشیعہ کے تحفظ میں مکمل طور پرناکام ہو چکی ہے جس کے باعث اب انہوں نے فوج سے تحفظ کا مطالبہ کیا ہے۔

واضع رہے کہ پانچ روز قبل بلوچستان کے علاقے مستونگ میں شیعہ زائرین کی بس پر نامعلوم افراد کی فائرنگ کے نتیجے میں انتیس افراد ہلاک ہو گئے تھے۔

کالعدم تنظیم لشکر جھنگوی کے ترجمان علی شیرحیدری نے ایک نامعلوم مقام سے اخبارات کو ٹیلی فون کر کے اس واقعہ کی ذمہ داری قبول کی تھی۔

اس کے بعد جمعہ کو کوئٹہ میں سریاب روڈ پر نامعلوم افراد نے کوئٹہ سے مچھ جانے والے شیعہ مسلک سے تعلق رکھنے والے تین کارکنوں کو گولیان مار کرہلاک کیا تھا۔

دونوں واقعات کی ذمہ داری کالعدم تنظیم لشکر جھنگوی نے قبول کی تھی۔

ان واقعات کے بعد پولیس اور فرنٹیئر کور نے کوئٹہ اور مستونگ کے علاقوں سے تین سو سے زیادہ مشکوک افراد کو حراست میں لے لیا ہے جن میں افغان مہاجرین بھی شامل ہیں۔

BBC URDU

Rally held to protest against sectarian killings

By: Bari Baloch | Published: September 26, 2011

QUETTA - Different Shia organisations on Sunday took out a rally to protest the targeted killing of members of Shia community in Balochistan and demanded for deployment of Army in Quetta.
The leaders and activists of Majlis Wahdat-ul-Muslimeen, Shia Ulema Council, Shia Conference and Hazara Qaumi Jirga participated in the rally which after marching through various roads of the City gathered outside Musa Check Post at Quetta Cantt where they staged a sit-in.
Participants of rally were shouting slogans against target killing of Shia Muslims and failure of govt to arrest the culprits.
Addressing the protesters, Ashraf Zehdi, Allama Mehdi Najafi, Jama Asadi, Qaum Changezai, Sardar Sadat Hazara and Abdul Ali crticised provincial and Federal governments, saying they had miserably failed to stop incidents of sectarian target killing and violence in the province.
‘Members of Shia community hailing from every segment of life have been targeted and killed’, they said, adding, that government had failed to arrest the culprits and bring them to book.
They said hundreds of innocent people have been killed in incidents of targeted killing which indicate the inability of government to control law and order.
‘We want deployment of Army in Quetta city for maintaining law and order’, they demanded, and,added, until and unless their demand is accepted they would not call off their demo.
They alleged that govt was also backing some banned outfits involved in the incidents of sectarian killing and warned if incidents of sectarian violence and target killing were not stopped the situation would be more complicated.
They demanded for immediate end of alleged genocide of people of Hazara community and the authorities concerned must take practical steps in this connection.
They announced that besides Pakistan, Shia community on October 1st would hold demos against target killings in US, Australia and other countries.
Later on, Shia leaders were called to Cantt area where they held meeting with senior Army officials and apprised them of their grievances. After the meeting, Shia leaders told media persons that Army officials had ensured them that they would convey their demands and a reservation to high-ups of the government.
After the assurance of senior Army officials, the protesters called off their sit-in and dispersed peacefully.

THE NATION

Mastung attack: Pilgrims going to Iran must obtain NoC, AG tells judge

By Muhammad Kazim
Published: September 26, 2011

Pakistani Shiite Muslims shout slogans against the killing of community members in Quetta on September 21, 2011. PHOTO: AFP
QUETTA: The division bench of the Balochistan High Court heard the suo motu case of the Matsung incident on Monday.
Chief Justice Qazi Faiz Essa and Justice Mohammad Asim Kakkar were hearing the case of the Mastung attack in which at least 26 people were killed last week.
(Read more: 29 killed in Mastung, Quetta ambushes)
Advocate General of Balochistan, Mr Amanullah Kanrani appeared before the bench and submitted a report on behalf of the Balochistan government.
Kanrani said a high power committee has been constituted under the Home Department, which will investigate the security lapses that resulted in the death of 26 people.
He also added that the number of police and security officials have been increased in the province to improve the security situation.
Kanrani also told the court that no pilgrim can go to Iran without obtaining a No Objection Certificate (NoC) from the Home Department of the province. After being issued an NoC, adequate security arrangement will be made for the pilgrims, he said.
The investigation of this matter has been taken from the levies force and given to the Crime Investigation Department (CID).
The court said the government should take this matter seriously and that an experienced officer should be appointed for the investigation of this case.

The Express Tribune

Comment by Gorgh

It is sadening to hear that AG Balochistan impose an act / demand from people which directly or indirectly mean subjucation of rights of the people guranteed to them by the Constitution of Pakistan; further griefing is that, the demand of such document (NOC) is made before Chief Justice of High Court, who is supposed to be the custodian of the Constitution of Pakistan. One wonder, was the imposition of NOC on people is studied, was its repercussion / future implications analysed/assessed. What course of action will be adopted for people proceeding for performance of Umra & Hajj. Do they also req to obtain NOC for the performance of Umar & Hajj to Saudi Arabia ( Mecca) from Home Dept of Govt of Balochistan besides getting Visa for the purpose.