Pakistan's Lashkar-e-Jhanghvi Blamed For 3rd Attack In 3 days On Hapless Shias Of Pakistan
Satish Kumar
Death Toll Is Said to Reach 40 in Attack on Shiites
By RICHARD A. OPPEL Jr. and SALMAN MASOOD
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — The death toll from a suicide bomber’s attack on
a Shiite religious procession in Karachi was reported to have risen to
40 on Tuesday, as the city reeled from rioting overnight amid fears
that extremist groups already waging a multifront war against the
government were now trying to foment sectarian violence against the
country’s minority Shiite Muslims.
The GEO television network, citing hospital sources, said at least 40
people had been killed and more than 100 had been injured in the
attack, which struck the procession as it made its way along Muhammad
Ali Jinnah Road on Monday afternoon.
The attack, the third against Shiites in three days, appeared to
deeply unsettle the Pakistani government, which ordered the director
general of the Rangers, a paramilitary force under the control of the
Interior Ministry, to take control of Karachi.
The interior minister, Rehman Malik, also asked Shiite clerics to
postpone religious processions , especially in Karachi, Pakistan’s
largest city, to avoid “providing soft targets to militants,”
according to the state-run news agency. Government leaders urged
people not to take the law into their own hands.
Pakistan’s president, Asif Ali Zardari, warned that “a deliberate
attempt seems to be afoot by the extremists to turn the fight against
militants into a sectarian clash and make the people fight against one
another.”
Police officials said that Sunni extremists, possibly with links to
the Taliban, had been behind the attack. Sunni extremists believe
Shiites are apostates and have in the past attacked the group, which
makes up 20 percent of Pakistan’s population.
Two people were arrested in connection with the bombings, though no
group claimed responsibility.
The bombing defied Pakistani security, which had deployed more forces
in anticipation of an attack against Shiites during their annual
observance of Ashura, which commemorates the death of the revered
Shiite martyr Imam Hussein.
Karachi, Pakistan’s commercial hub and main port of entry for goods
shipped through the country to the United States military in
Afghanistan, had largely been spared the violence that has swept the
country since October, when Pakistani forces began an offensive
against Taliban militants in the South Waziristan tribal area.
In retaliation for that offensive, Taliban commanders have overseen a
wave of attacks against large and interior cities, including the
northwestern frontier hub of Peshawar, the military garrison city of
Rawalpindi, and the Punjabi heartland.
Monday’s blast, which occurred just after 4 p.m., sent a huge plume of
smoke over the Shiite procession as it wound down one of the main
thoroughfares of the city. A security camera caught the explosion,
which left people shrieking and running for cover.
Dr. Sagheer Ahmed, the health minister of Sindh Province, where
Karachi is located, said soon after the attack that 63 people had been
wounded, some critically.
The crowd quickly turned its anger on nearby police officers,
apparently blaming them for not doing enough to protect them. Dozens
of shops and cars were set ablaze as evening descended. Riots also
broke out in Hyderabad, the second-largest city in Sindh.
On Monday evening, the police released a picture of what they said
they believed was the severed head of the bomber, who appeared to be
in his late teens. But later on the authorities asked that the picture
not be publicized, suggesting that they had doubts that the remains
belonged to the bomber. But they did not retract their belief that the
culprit was a suicide attacker, noting that a hidden bomb would have
left a large crater.
Security analysts said the attack would appeal to a wide range of
militants by further destabilizing Pakistan’s weak government.
“The Taliban and the jihadi elements are very much opposed to Shiites,
and this suits their double purpose of destabilizing the state while
creating despondency amongst the people, and especially the Shiite,”
said Talat Masood, a retired Pakistani general and military analyst.
He said it was likely that a militant Sunni group with a history of
sectarian attacks was behind the blast. Mr. Masood pointed to Lashkar-
e-Jhangvi, a militant group with links to Al Qaeda and the Pakistani
Taliban.
Monday’s blast came after two other attacks on Shiites over the
weekend. On Saturday, a small hidden bomb wounded more than a dozen
people in Karachi. On Sunday, a suicide bomber in Muzaffarabad, the
capital of Pakistani-controlled Kashmir in the north, killed at least
10 people and wounded more than 80 during a Shiite procession. The
bomber had tried to enter a prayer hall, but blew himself up when
guards blocked him.