Blast in Quetta kills 84 Shias, injures 200

[Irfan Baloch]

to be honest saudis success is partly also bcoz ppl there are rich as it is blessed with rich petroleum oils.It would have been an interesting scenario to imagine what wld have happened if it was not that rich.countries like afghanistan,pak which are poor have plenty of ppl ready to die hoping tht atleast afterlife may bring some joy.all said and done considering the tribal history of saudi ,the peaceful status there is really laudable.

if this was not a thread about a colossal tragedy then I would have made fun of you. KSA has people of every kind but they obey the law and know their King and his power.

you seem to show that the poor are ignorant, uncultured so they resort to violence but that rule doesnt apply to Hazara. and neither it does to very well off Muslims who had an easy and prosperous life like Osama, Afia Sadiqui (MIT graduate) , failed NY bomber Faisal Shazad and all bombers of Spain and London were well off and well educated yet they allowed their minds to be clouded to use terrorism and find excuses through their twisted interpretation of Islam

if Islam is to blame then we all would have been praising this bombing and all of us would have been exploding ourselves and killing innocents.
I know you are making sweeping and inflammatory statements on purpose but sometimes responding to people like you is better so that some decent people who are not bigoted can see a difference between a better explanation and a hateful judgement

 

[CENTCOM]

CENTCOM offers prayers and extends condolences to the families, and loved ones, of those victims who died as a result of the recent terrorist attack in Quetta. Terrorists have once again portrayed their cowardice by target innocent defenseless people just because their beliefs are different. Intolerance towards people of different religions and ethnicities is an unfortunate phenomenon that can be lessened through education and teachings of tolerance; however, it is a crime to conduct violent attacks based on hatred and intolerance of other religions and ethnicities. We should never turn a blind eye towards these terrorist attacks that have plagued the world. We stand united with the Pakistani people and military in their struggle against terrorism.

Ali Khan
DET – U.S. Central Command
U.S. Central Command

 

[RabzonKhan]

Disturbing questions

Dawn
Feb 19 2013

WITH each attack on Balochistan’s Hazara Shias, it becomes harder to understand why those responsible continue to get away with their agenda of wiping out the community. Who carries out the attacks, and where they are based — in and around Quetta and Mastung, the home base of former chief minister Aslam Raisani — is publicly known. The madressahs that have mushroomed in these areas since the spread of extremist religious ideologies to the province exist in plain sight. And the attacks on Hazaras take place in certain areas and have demonstrated speci-fic patterns. So why the continuing intelligence failure? There are the straightforward explanations: that even if security agencies know which groups are responsible, it is hard to track them as they move around to avoid capture. That it isn’t possible to completely guard all civilian areas against attacks at all times. And that intelligence-sharing between agencies isn’t happening. The military intelligence agencies are better equipped and informed than civilian and police agencies, but poor coordination means that information isn’t used effectively.

But then there are the more sinister explanations, and the longer Hazaras continue to get killed, the more strength these will gain. Baloch nationalists claim that the state is using — and therefore patronising — anti-Shia groups to fight them. According to that narrative, Sunni extremism is foreign to the secular nature of Baloch politics and has been cultivated for a purpose, so that in Balochistan these militants are not the anti-state elements they are elsewhere in the country. Here they are a tool, and in the state’s calculation, using them has the inconvenient but accepted side effect of sectarian conflict. As attacks continue unabated, this theory is gaining currency. Locals point out that the base of anti-Shia ideology in the province is in the former chief minister’s stronghold in an area with a heavy Frontier Corps presence; or that two of the leaders of Lashkar-i-Jhangvi’s Balochistan faction escaped a high-security prison in Quetta’s cantonment area; or that some pro-state Baloch groups have links to Sunni extremism.

Official denials will at this point not be enough. Only tough action to stop the attacks will. In part this is for historical reasons; though there are signs the state may be moving away from its earlier policy of supporting certain militants elsewhere in the country, memories of support for ‘useful’ militants still linger. And in the case of Balochistan, continued failure to do something about an obvious problem is reviving them. Is Balochistan’s sectarian problem an intelligence failure? Or is it deliberate negligence? Unless something changes on the ground, those questions will continue to be asked.

 

[Leader]

this is what lashkar-e-iblees distributes in Quetta !!!

 

[muse]

hate mongeriing is part of Al Qaeda ideology.
when a culprit sees that he can get away with his actions in the civilised society then he does some heinous things and continues to do so whatever faith he has got little to no relevance because he will use anything be it Bible or Quran or anything to justify his crime.

I have resisted from responding because I'm pretty sure that the strategy of our Arabian contingent is to make the issue about their war with Iran -- but is it unfair to ask where this ideology comes from? Then some say you must accept responsibility for this it has nothing to do with us - is this not like a drug producers blaming junkies for their habit? Do we tolerate drugs producers or are they subject of international criminal proceedings?

See, friends, it good and fine to have begun to realize how this ideology is effecting people - and it's most welcome - but now it's time to move past and go to the heart of the problem - the problem is not Al-Brince, the problem is the ideology, we all know what that ideology is -- and we all know that it takes courage, but there really is no other option - today it's us, tomorrow it could be you, in the same way that today you cheer burning of Syria, tomorrow it could be you. If we are all Muslims and brothers, then put substance to this - match your words with deeds (Pakistan Army pay attention!)

 

[Bratva]

History of LeJ in Balochistan





ISLAMABAD: It was mainly the failure of Balochistan administration to counter the deadly anti-Shia Hazara terrorist activities by Usman Saifullah Kurd faction of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) and the consequent reaction shown by the Hazara community that finally compelled the Centre to dismiss an already fragile Raisani government and impose the governor’s rule in the trouble-stricken province.

On the heels of the federal government’s decision to get ridof the Raisani government under Article 234 of the Constitution, some key intelligence agencies investigating the non-stop killings of Shia Hazaras in Quetta and other parts of Balochistan had informed the Centre that the ongoing reign of terror against the Shia Hazaras in Quetta and other parts of the province was being spearheaded by the Balochistan chapter of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, led by Usman Saifullah Kurd, who had escaped from a high-security Quetta Cantonment jail way back in 2008.

Launched in 1996 as a sectarian group, the LeJ today has deep links with al-Qaeda and Taliban and is considered to be the most violent anti-Shia and anti-US terrorist group operating in Pakistan.

While Usman Kurd, the operational commander of the Balochistan faction of LeJ, carries Rs2.5 million head money, his second-in-command, Dawood Badini, carries Rs2 million head money. Both Kurd and Badini were sentenced to death by an Anti-Terrorist Court of Quetta on November 8, 2003 for masterminding two terrorist attacks in Quetta that killed 65 people.

Badini is the nephew of al-Qaeda’s former No. 3 Khalid Sheikh Mohammad and the brother-in-law of Ramzi Yousaf, the mastermind of the first terror attack on the World Trade Center in New York 1993. Ramzi was arrested from an Islamabad guest house in 1995 and extradited to the US. While Badini was nabbed by the Sindh Rangers from Karachi on June 12, 2003, Usman Kurd was arrested by the Criminal Investigation Unit of the Karachi Police from Mauripur area of Karachi on June 22, 2006.

Badini’s arrest was announced by the then Director-General Sindh Rangers Maj Gen Javed Zia at a press conference in Karachi on June 14, 2004. During subsequent interrogation, Badini, whose father Maulvi Amir Hamza was an active leader of Sipah Sahaba, had confessed to planning three major terrorist acts in Quetta in 2003 – targeting a vehicle of Balochistan police on June 8, 2003 [killing 12 policemen], dispatching a bomber to an Imambargah in Quetta on July 4, 2003 [killing 51 people] and targeting a big Ashura procession in Quetta with the help of two suicide bombers on March 2, 2004 [killing 46 Shia mourners].

On his part, Usman Kurd, s/o Muhammad Noor, had confessed during interrogations to having trained a large group of target killers and suicide bombers to step up attacks on the Shia Hazaras in Balochistan, especially in Quetta. Usman Kurd also confessed to planning dozens of suicide attacks on religious processions and imambargahs, besides having ordered the killing of professionals, police cadets and political activists, a majority of whom were Hazaras.

The sectarian attacks in Quetta had virtually been stopped following the arrest of Kurd and Badini. But quite unfortunately, both the LeJ men managed to escape under mysterious circumstances on January 18, 2008 after breaking the jail located in the high-security zone of Quetta Cantonment where no one can go without a pass.

A subsequent report by the Minority Support of Pakistan (MSP), a non-partisan NGO which is devoted to building advocacy for the minority rights, alleged that all signs of escape pointed to orchestration from the powerful groups. The reported added that the night Usman Kurd and Dawood Badin had escaped along with their third companion Shafiqur Rehman Rind [who was arrested in 2003], the Hazara guards were relieved from duty and the roster was abruptly changed by the jail bosses. While Shafiq Rind was rearrested by the Balochistan police six months later in July 2008, Usman Kurd and Dawood Badini remain at large and keep pursuing their anti-Shia Hazara agenda in Balochistan.

According to Hazara Democratic Party (HDP) Chairman Abdul Khaliq Hazara, Kurd and Badini’s escape from a high-security zone was more than enough to prove that the LeJ terrorists enjoy inside support. Khailq, whose predecessor Hussain Ali Yousafi was also killed for being a Hazara in 2009, claims that the anti-Hazara onslaught in Quetta in fact escalated following the mysterious escape of Kurd and Badini who were being tried for killing 80 plus Shia Hazaras.

Kurd and Badini were not the only LeJ leaders to have escaped from custody. Two other undertrial LeJ hit men, including a key suspect in a 2005 high-profile murder of Agha Ziauddin Rizvi, hoodwinked jail officials and made good their escape on December 13, 2012, even though they were kept in separate barracks of Cheeta sub-jail in Gilgit-Baltistan.

Intriguingly, Shakirullah Jan and Arifuddin had escaped after intoxicating the security personnel on duty despite the fact that 50 staffers of the Frontier Corps (FC) and police were guarding the prison. These escapees strengthened the lethal LeJ network in Balochistan, amidst allegations coming from the Hazara community members that Kurd group was being protected by senior Baloch tribal leaders, including the former chief minister Aslam Raisani. Those investigating the ongoing killings of Hazaras say the campaign intensified in the aftermath of May 2, 2011 killing of Osama bin Laden in a US military raid in Abbottabad. Immediately after his death, a spokesman for the Kurd faction of the LeJ, Ali Sher Haidri, had threatened to avenge the killing of “Sheikh Osama bin Laden” by targeting not only government ministers and Pakistani security forces’ personnel, but also the Hazara Shias.

However, some other officials investigating the upsurge in anti-Shia Hazara incidents in Quetta say the awful trend has something to do with the release of Malik Mohammad Ishaq, a key LeJ leader.

The Shia Hazara community in Quetta had expressed concerns over Ishaq’s release amidst media reports that he had established contacts with Kurd and Badini. Ishaq’s release instantly caused sectarian tensions that were prompted by the anti-Shia sermons he had started delivering while touring parts of the Punjab, coupled with the release of a threatening letter addressed to the Shia Hazaras living in Quetta.

Circulated openly in the Shia Hazara-dominated areas of Quetta, the letter had warned the residents “either to leave Balochistan or to get prepared for more violence because the LeJ will be intensifying the ‘holy war’ against the Shia Hazaras, similar to the one waged by the Afghan Taliban led by Mullah Omar against the Shia Hazaras in Bamiyan and Ghazni provinces of Afghanistan’. Shia Hazaras are the frequent target of attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan by sectarian/militant groups, which suspect them of aiding the US agencies in their hunt for fugitive leaders of al-Qaeda and Taliban, who are believed to be hiding in Pakistan.

Usman Kurd, the man who caused fall of Raisani govt - thenews.com.pk

 

[Irfan Baloch]

the alleged use of LeJ and Sipah Sahabah by the security agencies specially ISI doesnt hold much ground because

1. LaJ and Sipah Sahabah have delcared war on state and speically army
2. LeJ abducted and executed former ISI legend COl Imam
3. Pak military has soldiers & officers from shia community, such sinsister & inhumane plan cant remain hidden & would never be approved
4. the brutality against shias continues in Parachinar which is not in Balochistan but is in KP and also in DI khan where shias had attacks after attacks on their funerals.
5. the shias of Punjab also have not been less fortunate that hazara, their muharam processions have been targeted, they have been targeted at homes, offices and hospitals.

although this allegation by the nationalists and their foreign paid analysts is interesting but it lacks facts and is very amateur and lacks much thought.

hazara are very loyal and patriotic people and have a good representation in the security forces including police harming them to defuse the xenophobic and nationalistic Baloch insurgents will be self defeating.

the only strong point in this argument about possible complacency is that the LeJ continues to kill the shias with complete impunity and since Hazara are easy to identify unfortunately so any atrocity on them is magnified and thus serves the purpose of the terrorists to instill fear and helplessness. the "Good Taliban" also have done the same in Afghanistan and massacred over 11 thousand shias after defeating northern allienec forces in nad e Ali and Mazar e Sherif, the good taliban went house to house and shot dead men , women and children whoever looked like a hazara, this was one of the times when sipah sahabah and Lashker Jhangvi members joined their good taliban brothers to spill the blood since then the Al Qaeda screwed up with the wrong guy at the wrong place and Afghanistan was no longer safe to fullfill the religious obligation of killing shias so the oeprations are now only restricted to Pakistan where PMLn, Jamat Islami and Jamiat Ulema Islam offer the moral support and religious excuse for these terrorists some times in the name of Pak army selling itself out or the drone strikes but no one bothers to explain how does killing Hazaras help in stopping drone attacks or Pak army selling itself to Americans.

 

[niaz]

this is what lashkar-e-iblees distributes in Quetta !!!

LEJ is part of TTP. Would you like me to name politicians, media persons, notables & members of this forum who support TTP?

This is the crux of the problem. Bigotry has blinded a lot of educated and otherwise rational people in Pakistan. Even Oxford educated Imran Khan will support dharna or Sit in with Hazaras but will not come out openly and denounce LEJ & SSP by name. I have seen one post here who say that LEJ/SSP were in response to TJP. What does it mean?

Doesn't indirectly imply that it is okay to kill Shias because they formed TJP? Bigots will always find some justification for their tacit support of LEJ & SSP. Until such time that all terrorists acts are condemned without any ifs and buts, bigotry & hypocrisy will remain entrenched in Pakistan society and anyone who disagrees with this butchery will be labelled as a 'Liberal jerk.

But we are good Muslims awaiting entry into heaven as a reward for cleansing infidel Shias from the land of the pure. Hurrah for the LEJ/SSP/ TTP and their supporter.

 

[muse]

Demanding rights is not unlawful, not giving them is: Allama Talib Jauhari
By Ferya Ilyas
Published: February 19, 2013

KARACHI: While condemning the government’s inability to provide security to the vulnerable Shia community, Allama Talib Jauhari on Tuesday said demanding rights is not unlawful, not giving them is.

Jauhari was addressing a joint press conference at Karachi Press Club held to express solidarity with the Hazara community which came under attack again on February 16. A bomb attack in a Shia neighbourhood in Quetta left over 80 people dead.

Calling the current government “a sinister democracy,” Jauhari said a democratic state is desirable but the one we have now is not in the favour of the people it claims to represent.

He called on non-governmental organisations to help those affected in the Quetta carnage.

Holding the government responsible for the current mess, Jauhari said the leaders should either accept they are incompetent and resign or solve issues.

Speaking during the press conference, Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) deputy convener Farooq Sattar said his party believes the attack on Hazara community is a part of a greater plot against Pakistan.

Calling the recent attack barbaric, Sattar said terrorists have got the “license to kill” is the country’s major cities.

“Terror rules Quetta, Peshawar and Karachi,” he said.

Former judge of the Supreme Court Justice Wajihuddin Ahmed, while speaking to journalists, questioned how come 1000kg explosives – used in Saturday’s Quetta bombing – travelled to the blast site undetected.

Given the recent sectarian violence in Quetta, Ahmed said security in the city should have been very tight.

The former judge also criticised that government for its failure in identifying and punishing the culprits as well as penalising the forces responsible for security.

“I think this is a manageable issue; its collective failure on the part of the government and security authorities,” Ahmed said.

 

[Mercenary]

Time to use poison gas on these LeJ, TTP and LeT animals.

 

[jandk]

Time to use poison gas on these LeJ, TTP and LeT animals.

and their sympathizers too. Honestly I think at this point you need an event similar to the "Great Purge" inside the army, ISI and other such organizations. Remove terrorist and their sympathizers completely.

 

[Argus Panoptes]

LEJ is part of TTP. Would you like me to name politicians, media persons, notables & members of this forum who support TTP?

This is the crux of the problem. Bigotry has blinded a lot of educated and otherwise rational people in Pakistan. Even Oxford educated Imran Khan will support dharna or Sit in with Hazaras but will not come out openly and denounce LEJ & SSP by name. I have seen one post here who say that LEJ/SSP were in response to TJP. What does it mean?

Doesn't indirectly imply that it is okay to kill Shias because they formed TJP? Bigots will always find some justification for their tacit support of LEJ & SSP. Until such time that all terrorists acts are condemned without any ifs and buts, bigotry & hypocrisy will remain entrenched in Pakistan society and anyone who disagrees with this butchery will be labelled as a 'Liberal jerk.

But we are good Muslims awaiting entry into heaven as a reward for cleansing infidel Shias from the land of the pure. Hurrah for the LEJ/SSP/ TTP and their supporter.

It can be said that what you say Imran Khan does not do, you have also not done yourself - openly name those who support TTP so that they can be denounced. Let's hear the names from you, Sir.

 

[Mike_Brando]

These problem we created for ourselves and hopefully will be resolved. However if we wouldn't have got country than we would have been treated like dalits till today. So, first learn the history why Jinah left congress and joined Muslim League and demanded for separate country and discuss that in relevant thread.

sir can't all the leading Sunni clerics of Pakistan come together and issue fatwa against these barbaric terroristic activities once and for all.don't you guys have someone equivalent to the Grand Mufti rank who as the supreme leader of the Sunni muslims in Pakistan can be persuaded by the Pakistani Govt to issue a final warning to all these terrorists to stop this utter madness as its totally unislamic and if someone indulges in terroristic activity then he/she will not be a muslim as per the Islamic laws.just my thoughts sir!

 

[Farhad Hassan]

sir can't all the leading Sunni clerics of Pakistan come together and issue fatwa against these barbaric terroristic activities once and for all.don't you guys have someone equivalent to the Grand Mufti rank who as the supreme leader of the Sunni muslims in Pakistan can be persuaded by the Pakistani Govt to issue a final warning to all these terrorists to stop this utter madness as its totally unislamic and if someone indulges in terroristic activity then he/she will not be a muslim as per the Islamic laws.just my thoughts sir!

They are insanely divided and extremely prejudiced to do such a good thing and well some of the popular clerics actually support this madness secretly if not openly.

 

[Sugarcane]

sir can't all the leading Sunni clerics of Pakistan come together and issue fatwa against these barbaric terroristic activities once and for all.don't you guys have someone equivalent to the Grand Mufti rank who as the supreme leader of the Sunni muslims in Pakistan can be persuaded by the Pakistani Govt to issue a final warning to all these terrorists to stop this utter madness as its totally unislamic and if someone indulges in terroristic activity then he/she will not be a muslim as per the Islamic laws.just my thoughts sir!

Every Mullah is grand mufti here, even on PDF we have ultra-grand mufti