8 killed in sectarian attack in Pakistan's Quetta

PTI | Apr 14, 2012, 12.43PM IST

ISLAMABAD: At least eight persons, including seven members of the minority Shia Hazara community and a policeman, were killed in three separate incidents of firing in Quetta city of southwest Pakistan on Saturday, officials said.

The first incident occurred on Brewery Road, where gunmen riding a motorcycle ambushed a taxi carrying members of the Hazara community.

Six persons were killed instantly. The attackers managed to escape, police and witnesses said.

In the second incident, gunmen fired at a group of people on Sabzal Road. A Hazara man was killed and another injured, police said.

In yet another incident, a police constable was gunned down in Shalkot area on the outskirts of Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province.

Quetta has been rocked by several incidents of sectarian violence this week.

Members of the Hazara community were the target in most of these incidents and over a dozen Shias have been killed.

Today's killings resulted in tension across Quetta and shops and commercial hubs were closed after the violence.

At some places, members of the Hazara community organised protests against the killings. Several cars were torched outside the hospital where the bodies were taken.

Protestors burnt tyres to block roads and fired in the air at some places. The Hazara Democratic Party called for a strike in Quetta.

Additional policemen and Frontier Corps personnel were deployed to restore peace in the city. Deputy Inspector General of Police Qazi Wahid described today's violence as incidents of "targeted sectarian killings".

Law enforcement personnel cordoned off several areas and launched a search operation to trace the attackers.

Times of India

No let-up in violence: Governor fears Balochistan sliding into civil war

By Shehzad Baloch
Published: April 14, 2012


Protesters shout slogans during a rally in Quetta, against the killing of Hazara community members. Rallies were staged across the country against sectarian violence. PHOTO: AFP
QUETTA:

Incensed by the alarming rise in incidents of targeted killings, Balochistan Governor Zulfiqar Ali Magsi has said that if the security situation does not improve, a civil war may break out in the restive province.

“I don’t know what the government is doing? The situation is slipping out of control. Target killings are happening on a daily basis despite the presence of paramilitary Frontier Corps (FC), Balochistan Constabulary and police,” a visibly upset governor said during a meeting with a delegation of the Hazara Democratic Party (HDP).

“We will be compelled to call out Pakistan Army and FC in Quetta, if the government does not check incidents of target killings,” he said.

In recent months, there has been an alarming surge in target killings of ethnic Hazaras, who are Shias by sect, in Balochistan, Quetta in particular.

The HDP delegation met with Governor Magsi following a protest sit-in by Hazara community members outside the Governor House and Chief Minister Secretariat.

The delegation lodged a protest with the governor over targeted killings of Hazaras in Balochistan. The governor assured the delegation that he would take up the matter with Chief Minister Nawab Aslam Raisani.

He also directed the authorities to launch an effective crackdown against the groups stoking sectarian violence in the province. “We have a huge cabinet and almost all provincial legislators are ministers – but they are least interested in maintaining law and order,” he added.

Earlier, hundreds of HDP activists staged a rally. They marched on different roads and thoroughfares of the city, chanting slogans against the government and law enforcers for their “failure to check target killings of the Hazaras”. Enraged protesters removed barricades erected by law enforcers on Zarghoon Road and entered the high security zone where they staged a sit-in outside the Governor House and Chief Minister Secretariat.

Meanwhile, targeted killings of the Hazaras continued unabated in Quetta as another member of the community was shot dead soon after Friday prayers.

The victim, Muhammad Ali Hazara, a watchman by profession, was shot dead by gunmen outside a shop on Abdul Sattar Road. With the latest killing the number of Hazaras killed over the last 24 hours has risen to four. Six Hazaras were targeted on Monday last.

The latest killing whipped up panic in different neighbourhoods of the city, including Liaquat Bazaar, Prince Road, Mezan Chowk and Jinnah Road where shopping centres, markets and eateries were closed. However, contingents of police and FC reached the spot to restore order.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 14th, 2012.

8 people including policeman killed in Quetta

Quetta shooting spree claims eight lives - II

کوئٹہ: ٹارگٹ کلنگ کے خلاف دھرنا

ہزارہ ڈیموکرٹیک پارٹی نےگورنر بلوچستان سے مطالبہ کیا ہے کہ ہزارہ قبیلے کے افراد کی ٹارگٹ کلنگ روکنے کے لیے انتظامات کیے جائیں۔

گورنر نے یقین دہانی کرائی ہے کہ وہ جلد صوبائی حکومت سے بات کریں گے۔ دوسری جانب نامعلوم افراد کی فائرنگ سے ایک خاتون سمیت ہزارہ قبیلے کے دو افراد ہلاک ہوگئے ہیں۔

کوئٹہ سے بی بی سی کے نامہ نگار ایوب ترین کے مطابق جمعہ کے روز ہزارہ ڈیموکرٹیک پارٹی نے کوئٹہ سمیت صوبے کے دیگرعلاقوں میں ہزارہ قبیلے کی مسلسل ٹارگٹ کلنگ کے خلاف کوئٹہ میں گورنرہاؤس کے سامنے دھرنا دیا جو کئی گھنٹوں تک جاری رہا۔

اس دھرنے میں سینکڑوں کی تعداد میں نوجوانوں نے شرکت کی۔ دھرنے میں شریک مظاہرین نے ہاتھوں میں پلے کارڈ بھی اٹھا رکھے تھے جن پر صوبائی حکومت کے خلاف نعرے درج تھے۔

اس موقعے پر ہزارہ ڈیموکرٹیک پارٹی کے چیئرمین عبدالخالق ہزارہ نے کہا کہ ایک سوچے سمجھے منصوبے کے تحت ہزارہ برادری کو ٹارگٹ کیا جا رہا ہے اور صوبائی حکومت لوگوں کی جان اور مال کے تحفظ میں ناکام ہوچکی ہے۔

تاہم ہزارہ قبیلے سے تعلق رکھنے والے صوبائی وزیر جان علی چینگیزی نے کہا کہ مذہبی منافرت کی بنیاد پر شیعہ سنی کو لڑانے کی کوشش کی جا رہی ہے۔ ایک سنی کی ہلاکت کے بعد شیعہ مسلک سے تعلق رکھنے والوں کا ٹارگٹ کلنگ شروع ہوجاتی ہے۔ بقول ان کے پولیس نے چند افراد گرفتار کیے ہیں لیکن ابھی ٹارگٹ کلنگ کا سلسلہ بند نہیں ہوا ہے۔

بعد میں ہزارہ ڈیموکرٹیک پارٹی کے ایک وفد نے گورنر بلوچستان نواب ذوالفقار مگسی سے ملاقات کی۔

ملاقات میں گورنر بلوچستان نے وفد کو یقین دہانی کرائی کہ وہ جلد اس سلسلے میں وزیراعلی بلوچستان نواب اسلم رئیسانی سے بات چیت کریں گے۔ گورنر نے امن و امان کی صورتحال پر تشویش کا اظہار کرتے ہوئے سیکرٹری داخلہ نصیب اللہ بازئی کو کوئٹہ شہر میں سیکورٹی کے انتظامات سخت کرنے کی ہدایت کی۔

گورنر اور وفد کے درمیان مذاکرات جاری تھے کہ نامعلوم افراد نے کوئٹہ کے عبدالستار روڈ پر فائرنگ کرکے گھڑی ساز محمد علی کو ہلاک کر دیا جن کا تعلق بھی ہزارہ قبیلے سے تھا۔ جبکہ کاسی روڈ پر ہزارہ قبیلے سے تعلق رکھنے والی ایک خاتون بھی ٹارگٹ کلنگ کا نشانہ بنیں۔

خیال رہے کہ گزشتہ شب بھی کوئٹہ شہر میں فائرنگ کے دو مختلف واقعات میں ہزارہ قبیلے سے تعلق رکھنے والے تین افراد ہلاک اور دو زخمی ہوئے تھے۔

اس طرح گزشتہ دوہفتوں کے دوران کوئٹہ شہر میں ٹارگٹ کلنگ کے تحت ہزارہ قبیلے کےآٹھارہ افراد ہلا ک ہوچکے ہیں لیکن ابھی تک کسی تنظیم نے اسکی ذمہ داری قبول نہیں کی ہے۔

BBC URDU

Afghans give lantern to US as gift to protest lack of electricity

Civil activists in Afghanistan’s central province of Bamiyan have given a lantern as a symbolic gift to the US embassy in the capital Kabul to protest against lack of electricity in the province, Press TV reports.


The activists held a silent protest in front of the Afghan parliament on Tuesday to attract attention to the fact that they have not benefited from billions of dollars in aid from international community and that they are still without electricity.

“The US has failed to keep its promises. Over ten years on [since the US invasion of Afghanistan], we still don’t have electricity. By presenting this lantern as a gift to Obama, we want to raise our voice,” Hosaini Madani, a civil activist, toldPress TV.

The activists took the lantern to capital Kabul and gave it to Afghan parliamentarians and asked them to hand it over to the US embassy.

They also condemned the indifference of their government and of the international community to the plight of the people in the central province.

This is not the first time that the Bamiyan residents raise their voice against discriminative policies of the international community and Afghan government by such symbolic peaceful demonstrations.

In 2010, they paved the roads in Bamiyan with mud to protest against government’s indifference towards roads in the central province.

They also gave medals and certificates to their donkeys that help them bring potable water from the fountains. Through the certificates they appreciated the donkeys for their honest service.

In 2011, Bamiyan residents built a huge lantern and set it up in the city’s central intersection to protest lack of electricity. The junction was later called “Lantern Intersection.”

Such measures by the residents of Bamiyan have given them high reputation in staging peaceful and calm civil protests.

When Obama took office in 2009, he pledged to tackle social problems and improve public welfare for the Afghans. However, after more than three years of his presidency, most of the Afghans do not have access to basic living requirements such as electricity, safe drinking water and health services.

MN//MA

Press TV

Afghan Asylum-Seekers Found Near Bali Coast

Kate Lamb | Jakarta

Australian refugee groups have made contact with some 60 asylum-seekers adrift in waters off Bali after concerns their vessel had capsized. While authorities now hope to rescue the group, the refugees, including ethnic Hazaras from Afghanistan, now face detention in Indonesia.

After a distress call was made Thursday evening and all contact with the vessel was lost, authorities reported no sign of the boat Friday morning.

The boat was last reported off Sumbawa, a small island east of Bali. Sixty asylum seekers, including children, are thought to be on board.

Ian Rintoul of the Australian Refugee Action Coalition says hopes of finding survivors were dim until the group received a surprise phone call Friday afternoon.

“No, no, the boat hasn’t gone down," insisted Rintoul, "we just got a call about 10 minutes ago, we got a call from the boat. It's still floating, it is still adrift. I’d given up because we hadn’t heard anything from 2 o’clock, but it was from the same number and the same people… The engine has definitely failed, they are still needing assistance.”

While contact has been established, authorities are searching by land and sea to identify the exact location of the boat.

Thousands of refugees, mostly from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran, make the perilous journey through Indonesian waters ever year in the hope they will be granted asylum in Australia.

Indonesia is not a signatory to the U.N. refugee convention and often jails and deports asylum seekers awaiting refugee status.

The Australian government has drawn criticism in recent years for urging Indonesian authorities to pick up asylum seekers so they are processed in Indonesia, rather than Australia.

Ian Rintoul says the refugee coalition is still waiting to see what happens with this latest boat.

“If they are rescued by Indonesian authorities that may well be placed in detention in Indonesia and that is one of our concerns about the whole situation in Indonesia and the pressure from the Australian government pushing people to get on boats that aren’t as well prepared as they could be,” Rintoul said.

Last Sunday a Singapore-registered tanker rescued around 120 Australia-bound asylum seekers, mostly Afghans and some Iranians, from their sinking wooden boat.

They refused to get off the docked tanker for two days, saying they wanted to continue to Australia where their rights are more protected.

In December, a boat carrying around 250 mostly Afghan and Iranian asylum seekers sank in Indonesian waters on its way to Christmas Island. Only 47 survived.

Voice of America